pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Aedes aegypti vector competence studies: A review - PubMed

Review

Aedes aegypti vector competence studies: A review

Jayme A Souza-Neto et al. Infect Genet Evol. 2019 Jan.

Abstract

Aedes aegypti is the primary transmitter of the four viruses that have had the greatest impact on human health, the viruses causing yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya, and Zika fever. Because this mosquito is easy to rear in the laboratory and these viruses grow in laboratory tissue culture cells, many studies have been performed testing the relative competence of different populations of the mosquito to transmit many different strains of viruses. We review here this large literature including studies on the effect of the mosquito microbiota on competence. Because of the heterogeneity of both mosquito populations and virus strains used, as well as methods measuring potential to transmit, it is very difficult to perform detailed meta-analysis of the studies. However, a few conclusions can be drawn: (1) almost no population of Ae. aegypti is 100% naturally refractory to virus infection. Complete susceptibility to infection has been observed for Zika (ZIKV), dengue (DENV) and chikungunya (CHIKV), but not yellow fever viruses (YFV); (2) the dose of virus used is directly correlated to the rate of infection; (3) Brazilian populations of mosquito are particularly susceptible to DENV-2 infections; (4) the Asian lineage of ZIKV is less infective to Ae. aegypti populations from the American continent than is the African ZIKV lineage; (5) virus adaptation to different species of mosquitoes has been demonstrated with CHIKV; (6) co-infection with more than one virus sometimes causes displacement while in other cases has little effect; (7) the microbiota in the mosquito also has important effects on level of susceptibility to arboviral infection; (8) resistance to virus infection due to the microbiota may be direct (e.g., bacteria producing antiviral proteins) or indirect in activating the mosquito host innate immune system; (9) non-pathogenic insect specific viruses (ISVs) are also common in mosquitoes including genome insertions. These too have been shown to have an impact on the susceptibility of mosquitoes to pathogenic viruses. One clear conclusion is that it would be a great advance in this type of research to implement standardized procedures in order to obtain comparable and reproducible results.

Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.

Natural and technical confounding factors related to arbovirus vector competence studies in Aedes aegypti. Despite progress in the understanding of the interplay between arboviruses and vectors, the genetic and environmental elements that control vector competence in Ae. aegypti populations have yet to be fully understood. Further elucidation is needed especially of co-evolutionary processes between arboviruses and vectors, as well as their symbionts. On the other hand, procedures used in vector competence studies should be standardized in order to improve reproducibility and comparability of scientific outputs. Together these will result in better understanding of genetic and microbial factors influencing arboviral transmission, which can lead to the development of new public health interventions.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Agha SB, Chepkorir E, Mulwa F, Tigoi C, Arum S, Guarido MM, et al., 2017. Vector competence of populations of Aedes aegypti from three distinct cities in Kenya for chikungunya virus. PLoS Negl. Trop. Dis 11, e0005860. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alto BW, Smartt CT, Shin D, Bettinardi D, Malicoate J, Anderson SL, et al., 2014. Susceptibility of Florida Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus to dengue viruses from Puerto Rico. J. Vec. Ecol 39, 406–413. - PubMed
    1. Alto BW, Wiggins K, Eastmond B, Velez D, Lounibos LP, et al., 2017. Transmission risk of two chikungunya lineages by invasive mosquito vectors from Florida and the Dominican Republic. PLoS Neg. Trop. Dis 11, e005724. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bancroft TL, 1906. On the aetiology of dengue fever. Aust. Med. Gaz 25, 17–18.
    1. Beck AS, Barrett AD, 2015. Current status and future prospects of yellow fever vaccines. Expert Rev. Vaccines 14, 1479–1492. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms