The < i > Aedes aegypti < /i > siRNA pathway mediates broad-spectrum defense against human pathogenic viruses and modulates antibacterial and antifungal defenses

by Yuemei Dong, Shengzhang Dong, Nahid Borhani Dizaji, Natalie Rutkowski, Tyler Pohlenz, Kevin Myles, George Dimopoulos The mosquito’s innate immune system defends against a variety of pathogens, and the conserved siRNA pathway plays a central role in the control of viral infections. Here, we show that transgenic overexpression of Dicer2 (Dcr2) orR2d2 resulted in an accumulation of 21-nucleotide viral sequences that was accompanied by a significant suppression of dengue virus (DENV), Zika virus (ZIKV), and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) replication, thus indicating the broad-spectrum antiviral response mediated by the siRNA pathway that can be applied for the development of novel arbovirus control strategies. Interestingly, overexpression ofDcr2 orR2d2 regulated the mRNA abundance of a variety of antimicrobial immune genes, pointing to additional functions of DCR2 and R2D2 as well as cross-talk between the siRNA pathway and other immune pathways. Accordingly, transgenic overexpression ofDcr2 orR2d2 resulted in a lesser proliferation of the midgut microbiota and increased resistance to bacterial and fungal infections.
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: research