Mayaro Virus: The Potential Role of Microbiota and Wolbachia

Abstract

The Mayaro virus (MAYV) is an arbovirus that circulates mainly in tropical forests or rural areas in Latin America and is transmitted mainly by Haemagogus mosquitoes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the vector competence, microbiome, and the presence of Wolbachia in three Aedes albopictus populations infected with MAYV. The vector competence was assessed based on viral infection and transmission by RT-qPCR. In addition, the microbiome was evaluated by amplification of the 16S rRNA V4 region and PCR to detect the presence of Wolbachia (strain wAlbA/wAlbB). Our results show that all three populations were susceptible to MAYV infection. The potential transmission of the MAYV was consistent in all populations of naïve mosquitoes injected (more than 50%). The microbiome analysis revealed 118 OTUs (operational taxonomic unit) from the three populations, 8 phyla, 15 classes, 26 orders, 35 families, 65 genera, and 53 species. All populations had Pseudomonas and Wolbachia as predominant genera. There was no difference between the variables for MAYV and Wolbachia (wAlbA or wAlbB) in the abdomen. However, in the head + thorax samples at 14 dpi, there was a difference between the two populations, indicating a possible correlation between the presence of Wolbachia (wAlbB) and infection. Overall, we show evidence that Ae. albopictus displays significant infection and transmission competence for the MAYV in the laboratory, and its bacterial microbiota play an important role in the host, mainly the strains of Wolbachia. The influence of the intestinal microbiota of Ae. albopictus is poorly known, and a better understanding of these interactions would open new perspectives for disease control through the manipulation of microbial communities. The exact contribution of this mosquito species to the transmission of the MAYV in the field remains to be confirmed.

Gut Bacterial Diversity of Field and Laboratory-Reared Aedes albopictus Populations of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…Proteobacteria was the most abundant phylum, regardless of whether the mosquitoes were from the field or laboratory, which is in line with what has been described for Chinese and Brazilian Ae. albopictus populations [ 68 , 76 , 78 ].…”

The interplay between vector microbial community and pathogen transmission on the invasive Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus: current knowledge and future directions

“…Most studies are aimed to unveil the role of vector microbial communities on ZIKV and DENV transmission (e.g., Duchemin et al, 2017 ; Schultz et al, 2018 ; Huang et al, 2020 ; Mancini et al, 2020 ). Complementary, these techniques have been applied to detect how microbiota variations of mosquitoes with different statuses, such as food regime, correlate with infections by ZIKV ( Onyango et al, 2021 ), MAYV ( Pereira et al, 2021 ), or DENV ( Zhao et al, 2022 ). In addition, whole microbiota has been screened by Seabourn et al (2020) using NGS, despite being focused on w AlbA and w AlbB and the infection by A. taiwanensis , while Calle-Tobón et al (2022) do it to screen whole viromes.…”

“…Following a similar approach, Pereira et al (2021) studied the impact of certain Wolbachia strains on the vector potential of Ae. albopictus for Mayaro virus (MAYV).…”

“…These differences in the composition of the mosquito microbiota may impact their ability for the transmission of pathogens under natural conditions, as suggested by the reported variations in mosquito microbiota of wild populations between dengue-endemic and not endemic areas within its natural area of distribution (e.g., Charan et al, 2016 ; Huang et al, 2020 , Hong Kong and India, respectively) or those in the fungal microbiota populations exposed to different environmental conditions ( Tawidian et al, 2021 ). Additional surveys were carried out in colonized countries, including two in South America (Colombia and Brazil) ( Pereira et al, 2021 ; Calle-Tobón et al, 2022 , respectively), and in the Pacific island of Maui (USA) ( Seabourn et al, 2020 ), but these studies did not compared their results from native populations of the species.…”

“…Further research has explored the impact of Ae. albopictus microbiota in the transmission of other pathogens such as Mayaro virus (MAYV; Pereira et al, 2021), Ascogregarina taiwanensis (Seabourn et al, 2020), the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana (MBC076) and Beauveria brongniartii (MBC397) (Ramirez et al, 2021), and the Cell-fusing agent virus (CFLV) and Phasi Charoen-like virus (PCLV) (McLean et al, 2019). Calle-Tobón et al (2022) screened the mosquito virome looking for 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1208633 pathogenic viruses, despite not find any, pathogen screening can be integrated as a feasible solution to not be limited at detecting pathogens of a specific group.…”