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. 2020 Apr 14;14(4):e0007518.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007518. eCollection 2020 Apr.

Vector competence of Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes for Mayaro virus

Thiago Nunes Pereira  1 , Fabiano Duarte Carvalho  1 , Silvana Faria De Mendonça  1 , Marcele Neves Rocha  1 , Luciano Andrade Moreira  1
Affiliations

Vector competence of Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes for Mayaro virus

Thiago Nunes Pereira et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. .

Abstract

Newly emerging or re-emerging arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are important causes of human morbidity and mortality worldwide. Arboviruses such as Dengue (DENV), Zika (ZIKV), Chikungunya (CHIKV), and West Nile virus (WNV) have undergone extensive geographic expansion in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. In the Americas the main vectors of DENV, ZIKV, and CHIKV are mosquito species adapted to urban environments, namely Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, whereas the main vector of WNV is Culex quinquefasciatus. Given the widespread distribution in the Americas and high permissiveness to arbovirus infection, these mosquito species may play a key role in the epidemiology of other arboviruses normally associated with sylvatic vectors. Here, we test this hypothesis by determining the vector competence of Ae. aegypti, Ae. albopictus, and Cx. quinquefasciatus to Mayaro (MAYV) virus, a sylvatic arbovirus transmitted mainly by Haemagogus janthinomys that has been causing an increasing number of outbreaks in South America, namely in Brazil. Using field mosquitoes from Brazil, female mosquitoes were experimentally infected, and their competence for infection and transmission rates of MAYV was evaluated. We found consistent infection rate for MAYV in Ae. aegypti (57.5%) and Ae. albopictus (61.6%), whereas very low rates were obtained for Cx. quinquefasciatus (2.5%). Concordantly, we observed high potential transmission ability in Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus (69.5% and 71.1% respectively), in contrast to Cx. quinquefasciatus, which could not transmit the MAYV. Notably, we found that very low quantities of virus present in the saliva (undetectable by RT-qPCR) were sufficiently virulent to guarantee transmission. Although Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes are not the main vectors for MAYV, our studies suggest that these mosquitoes could play a significant role in the transmission of this arbovirus, since both species showed significant vector competence for MAYV (Genotype D), under laboratory conditions.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
Mosquito viral infection rate (replicates A and B). Each point represents a single head+thorax of adult female, and the black lines indicate the median copy number of the Mayaro virus in each group. The viral titer in the infective blood meal was 1×109 PFU/mL and, and 6×109 PFU/mL respectively for the replicates A and B. The asterisks represent P < 0.05 after the Mann-Whitney U-Test.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Nanoinjection of saliva from three infected mosquito species into naïve Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
Saliva samples were collected from Aedes aegypti (A), Aedes albopictus (B), and Culex quinquefasciatus (C), which were previously infected with MAYV (at 14 dpi), followed by injection into naïve mosquitoes. Mosquitoes that became infected are shown in black and uninfected are depicted in white. Each bar represents a single saliva sample, and the number of transmission rate mosquitoes nanoinjected mosquitoes is given at the top of each bar.
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Publication types

Grants and funding

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001, FAPEMIG, CNPq (LAM) and, indirectly, by the World Mosquito Program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.