Viruses, Vol. 16, Pages 214: DENV-1 Titer Impacts Viral Blocking in wMel Aedes aegypti with Brazilian Genetic Background

Viruses, Vol. 16, Pages 214: DENV-1 Titer Impacts Viral Blocking in wMel Aedes aegypti with Brazilian Genetic Background Viruses doi: 10.3390/v16020214 Authors: Jessica Corrêa-Antônio Mariana R. David Dinair Couto-Lima Gabriela Azambuja Garcia Milan S. G. Keirsebelik Rafael Maciel-de-Freitas Márcio Galvão Pavan Several countries have been using Wolbachia deployments to replace highly competent native Aedes aegypti populations with Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes with lower susceptibility to arboviruses such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya. In Rio de Janeiro, Wolbachia deployments started in 2015 and still present a moderate introgression with a modest reduction in dengue cases in humans (38%). Here, we evaluated the vector competence of wild-type and wMel-infected Ae. aegypti with a Brazilian genetic background to investigate whether virus leakage could contribute to the observed outcomes in Brazil. We collected the specimens in three areas of Rio de Janeiro with distinct frequencies of mosquitoes with wMel strain and two areas with wild Ae. aegypti. The mosquitoes were orally exposed to two titers of DENV-1 and the saliva of DENV-1-infected Ae. aegypti was microinjected into wMel-free mosquitoes to check their infectivity. When infected with the high DENV-1 titer, the presence of wMel did not avoid viral infection in mosquitoes’ bodies and saliva but DENV-1-infected wMel mosquitoes produced lower viral loads than wMel-free mosquitoes. On ...
Source: Viruses - Category: Virology Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research