Work

Replacement of the 3' untranslated variable region of mosquito-borne dengue virus with that of tick-borne Langat virus does not alter vector specificity

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: The four major flavivirus clades are transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks, directly between vertebrates or directly between arthropods, respectively, but the molecular determinants of mode of transmission in flaviviruses are unknown. To assess the role of the UTRs in transmission, we generated chimeric genomes in which the 5' UTR, capsid and/or 3' UTR of mosquito-borne dengue virus serotype 4 (rDENV-4) were replaced, separately or in combination, with those of tick-borne Langat virus (rLGTV). None of the chimeric genomes yielded detectable virus following transfection. Replacement of the variable region (VR) in the rDENV-4 3' UTR with that of rLGTV generated virus rDENV-4-rLGTswapVR, which showed lower replication than its wild-type parents in mammalian but not mosquito cells in culture and was able to infect mosquitoes in vivo. Neither rDENV-4 nor rDENV-4-rLGTswapVR could infect larval Ixodes scapularis ticks immersed in virus, while rLGTV was highly infectious via this route.

Source: Journal of General Virology

DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.026997-0

Authors: E. Tumban, D. N. Mitzel, N. E. Maes, C. T. Hanson, S. S. Whitehead, K. A. Hanley

Institutions: New Mexico State University, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Language: English

Topic: Mosquito-borne diseases and control

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Public Health Service, National Center for Research Resources