Identification and RNAi profile of a novel iflavirus infecting Senegalese Aedes vexans arabiensis mosquitoes

Parry, R. et al. (2020) Identification and RNAi profile of a novel iflavirus infecting Senegalese Aedes vexans arabiensis mosquitoes. Viruses, 12(4), e440. (doi: 10.3390/v12040440) (PMID:32295109)

[img]
Preview
Text
214060.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

810kB

Abstract

The inland floodwater mosquito Aedes vexans (Meigen, 1830) is a competent vector of numerous arthropod-borne viruses such as Rift Valley fever virus (Phenuiviridae) and Zika virus (Flaviviridae). Aedes vexans spp. have widespread Afrotropical distribution and are common European cosmopolitan mosquitoes. We examined the virome of Ae. vexans arabiensis samples from Barkédji village, Senegal, with small RNA sequencing, bioinformatic analysis, and RT-PCR screening. We identified a novel 9494 nt iflavirus (Picornaviridae) designated here as Aedes vexans iflavirus (AvIFV). Annotation of the AvIFV genome reveals a 2782 amino acid polyprotein with iflavirus protein domain architecture and typical iflavirus 5’ internal ribosomal entry site and 3’ poly-A tail. Aedes vexans iflavirus is most closely related to a partial virus sequence from Venturia canescens (a parasitoid wasp) with 56.77% pairwise amino acid identity. Analysis of AvIFV-derived small RNAs suggests that AvIFV is targeted by the exogenous RNA interference pathway but not the PIWI-interacting RNA response, as ~60% of AvIFV reads corresponded to 21 nt Dicer−2 virus-derived small RNAs and the 24−29 nt AvIFV read population did not exhibit a “ping-pong” signature. The RT-PCR screens of archival and current (circa 2011−2020) Ae. vexans arabiensis laboratory samples and wild-caught mosquitoes from Barkédji suggest that AvIFV is ubiquitous in these mosquitoes. Further, we screened wild-caught European Ae. vexans samples from Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Sweden, all of which tested negative for AvIFV RNA. This report provides insight into the diversity of commensal Aedes viruses and the host RNAi response towards iflaviruses.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:Sassan Asgari is supported by the Australian Research Council, grant number DP190102048. Alain Kohl is supported by the UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12014/8). Rhys Parry is supported by a University of Queensland scholarship. Isabelle Dietrich is supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (grant numbers BBS/E/I/00007033 and BBS/E/I/00007035). Jenny C. Hesson is supported by the Swedish Society for Medical Research.
Keywords:Aedes vexans, iflavirus, RNAi, virus discovery.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Kohl, Professor Alain
Creator Roles:
Kohl, A.Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition
Authors: Parry, R., Naccache, F., Ndiaye, E. H., Fall, G., Castelli, I., Lühken, R., Medlock, J., Cull, B., Hesson, J. C., Montarsi, F., Failloux, A.-B., Kohl, A., Schnettler, E., Diallo, M., Asgari, S., Dietrich, I., and Becker, S. C.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity
College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity > Centre for Virus Research
Journal Name:Viruses
Publisher:MDPI
ISSN:1999-4915
ISSN (Online):1999-4915
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2020 The Authors
First Published:First published in Viruses 12(4):e440
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record

Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
MC_UU_12014/8