Translating mosquito viromes into vector management strategies.

Mosquitoes are best known for transmitting human and animal viruses. However, they also harbour mosquito-specific viruses (MSVs) as part of their microbiota. These are a group of viruses whose diversity and prevalence overshadow their medically relevant counterparts.

Exposure to ultraviolet-B radiation increases the susceptibility of mosquitoes to infection with dengue virus.

By 2100, greenhouse gases are predicted to reduce ozone and cloud cover over the tropics causing increased exposure of organisms to harmful ultraviolet-B radiation (UVBR). UVBR damages DNA and is an important modulator of immune function and disease susceptibility in humans and other vertebrates. The effect of UVBR on invertebrate immune function is largely unknown, but UVBR together with ultraviolet-A radiation impairs an insect immune response that utilizes melanin, a pigment that also protects against UVBR-induced DNA damage.

Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequences from 33 globally distributed mosquito species for improved metagenomics and species identification.

Total RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) is an important tool in the study of mosquitoes and the RNA viruses they vector as it allows assessment of both host and viral RNA in specimens. However, there are two main constraints. First, as with many other species, abundant mosquito ribosomal RNA (rRNA) serves as the predominant template from which sequences are generated, meaning that the desired host and viral templates are sequenced far less.

Interactions of the Insect-Specific Palm Creek Virus with Zika and Chikungunya Viruses in Mosquitoes.

Palm Creek virus (PCV) is an insect-specific flavivirus that can interfere with the replication of mosquito-borne flaviviruses in mosquitoes, thereby potentially reducing disease transmission. We examined whether PCV could interfere with arbovirus replication in () and mosquitoes, major vectors for many prominent mosquito-borne viral diseases. We infected laboratory colonies of and with PCV to evaluate infection dynamics.

Dengue virus dominates lipid metabolism modulations in Wolbachia-coinfected Aedes aegypti.

Competition between viruses and Wolbachia for host lipids is a proposed mechanism of Wolbachia-mediated virus blocking in insects. Yet, the metabolomic interaction between virus and symbiont within the mosquito has not been clearly defined. We compare the lipid profiles of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes bearing mono- or dual-infections of the Wolbachia wMel strain and dengue virus serotype 3 (DENV3).

Artificial Selection Finds New Hypotheses for the Mechanism of Mediated Dengue Blocking in Mosquitoes.

is an intracellular bacterium that blocks virus replication in insects and has been introduced into the mosquito, for the biocontrol of arboviruses including dengue, Zika, and chikungunya. Despite ongoing research, the mechanism of mediated virus blocking remains unclear. We recently used experimental evolution to reveal that mediated dengue blocking could be selected upon in the host and showed evidence that strong levels of blocking could be maintained by natural selection.

The Global Phosphorylation Landscape of SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

The causative agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has infected millions and killed hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, highlighting an urgent need to develop antiviral therapies. Here we present a quantitative mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics survey of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Vero E6 cells, revealing dramatic rewiring of phosphorylation on host and viral proteins. SARS-CoV-2 infection promoted casein kinase II (CK2) and p38 MAPK activation, production of diverse cytokines, and shutdown of mitotic kinases, resulting in cell cycle arrest.

A SARS-CoV-2 protein interaction map reveals targets for drug repurposing.

A newly described coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has infected over 2.3 million people, led to the death of more than 160,000 individuals and caused worldwide social and economic disruption. There are no antiviral drugs with proven clinical efficacy for the treatment of COVID-19, nor are there any vaccines that prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2, and efforts to develop drugs and vaccines are hampered by the limited knowledge of the molecular details of how SARS-CoV-2 infects cells.

Sustained -mediated blocking of dengue virus isolates following serial passage in cell culture.

is an intracellular endosymbiont of insects that inhibits the replication of a range of pathogens in its arthropod hosts. The release of into wild populations of mosquitoes is an innovative biocontrol effort to suppress the transmission of arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) to humans, most notably dengue virus. The success of the -based approach hinges upon the stable persistence of the 'pathogen blocking' effect, whose mechanistic basis is poorly understood.

The Transcriptional Response of Aedes aegypti with Variable Extrinsic Incubation Periods for Dengue Virus.

Dengue fever is the most prevalent arboviral disease globally. Dengue virus is transmitted primarily by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. One measure of the mosquito's efficiency as a vector is the extrinsic incubation period (EIP), which is the time between the ingestion of viremic blood and the emergence of virions in the saliva.

enhances insect-specific flavivirus infection in mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes transmit a diverse group of human flaviviruses including West Nile, dengue, yellow fever, and Zika viruses. Mosquitoes are also naturally infected with insect-specific flaviviruses (ISFs), a subgroup of the family not capable of infecting vertebrates. Although ISFs are not medically important, they are capable of altering the mosquito's susceptibility to flaviviruses and may alter host fitness.