Replication Variance of African and Asian Lineage Zika Virus Strains in Different Cell Lines, Mosquitoes and Mice

Ou, Tey Putita; Auerswald, Heidi; In, Saraden; Peng, Borin; Pang, Senglong; Boyer, Sébastien; Choeung, Rithy; Dupont-Rouzeyrol, M.; Dussart, Philippe; Duong, Veasna

doi:10.3390/microorganisms9061250

“…Moreover, the different viral strains used to infect mosquitoes all originated from the Asian lineage ( Faria et al 2016 ; Lanciotti et al 2016 ). In comparative studies, strains from the Asian lineage presented more similar infection characteristics than strains from the African lineage ( Roundy et al 2017 ; Ou et al 2021 ). Thus, even if mosquitoes were infected by different ZIKV strains, it cannot be used as a strong argument to explain the variability of the modulation observed ( Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Effects of Arboviral Infections on Transposable Element Transcript Levels in Aedes aegypti

Garambois,

Boulesteix,

Fablet

2024

Genome Biology and Evolution

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Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile repeated sequences found in all genomes. TEs are controlled by RNA interference pathways in most organisms, and this control involves the piRNA pathway and the siRNA pathway, which is also known to be the first line of antiviral defense in invertebrates. Using Drosophila, we recently showed that viral infections result in the modulation of TE transcript levels through modulation of the small RNA repertoire. The Aedes aegypti mosquito is of particular interest because almost half of its genome is made of TEs, and it is described as a major vector of viruses (such as the dengue (DENV), Zika (ZIKV) and chikungunya (CHIKV) arboviruses). Moreover, Aedes mosquitoes are unique among insects in that the piRNA pathway is also involved in the somatic antiviral response, in addition to the TE control and piRNA pathway genes expanded in the mosquito genome. For these reasons, we studied the impacts of viral infections on TE transcript levels in Ae. aegypti samples. We retrieved public datasets corresponding to RNA-seq data obtained from viral infections by DENV, ZIKV and CHIKV in various tissues. We found that TE transcripts are moderately modulated following viral infection and that the direction of the modulation varies greatly across tissues and viruses. These results highlight the need for an in-depth investigation of the tightly intertwined interactions between TEs and viruses.

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“…Although it is well established that the African ZIKV lineage exhibits higher transmissibility in Aedes mosquitoes compared to the Asian ZIKV lineage ( 3 , 16 – 18 ), limited knowledge exists regarding ZIKV infection kinetics during the early steps of mosquito infection and the virus’s interaction with various mosquito tissues. To enhance our understanding of the differential transmissibility of the two ZIKV lineages, our study compared the intra-host tissue-level infection kinetics of African and Asian ZIKV strains in Ae.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential intra-host infection kinetics in Aedes aegypti underlie superior transmissibility of African relative to Asian Zika virus

Phengchat,

Pakparnich,

Pethrak

et al. 2023

mSphere

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Despite numerous studies highlighting the higher transmissibility of the African Zika virus (ZIKV) lineage compared to the Asian lineage in mosquito vectors, little is known about how the viruses interact with different tissues during the early steps of mosquito infection. To address this gap, we aimed to characterize intra-host infection barriers by combining tissue-level monitoring of infection using plaque assays and a novel quantitative analysis of single-cell-level infection kinetics by in situ immunofluorescent staining. Our results revealed that, in Aedes aegypti , an African ZIKV strain exhibited a higher replication rate across various tissues than an Asian ZIKV strain. This difference was potentially due to a higher virus production in individual cells, faster spread within tissues, or a combination of both factors. Furthermore, we observed that higher blood meal titers resulted in a faster viral spread to neighboring cells suggesting that intra-host infection dynamics depend on inoculum size. We also identified a significant bottleneck during midgut infection establishment for both ZIKV lineages, with only a small percentage of the virus population successfully initiating infection. Finally, the in situ immunofluorescent staining technique enabled the examination of virus infection characteristics in different cell types and revealed heterogeneity in viral replication. Together, these findings demonstrate that differences in intra-host infection kinetics underlie differential transmissibility between African and Asian ZIKV lineages. This information could serve as a starting point to further investigate the underlying mechanisms and ultimately inform the development of alternative control strategies. IMPORTANCE The recent Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic in the Americas highlights its potential public health threat. While the Asian ZIKV lineage has been identified as the main cause of the epidemic, the African lineage, which has been primarily confined to Africa, has shown evidence of higher transmissibility in Aedes mosquitoes. To gain a deeper understanding of this differential transmissibility, our study employed a combination of tissue-level infection kinetics and single-cell-level infection kinetics using in situ immunofluorescent staining. We discovered that the African ZIKV lineage propagates more rapidly and spreads more efficiently within mosquito cells and tissues than its Asian counterpart. This information lays the groundwork for future exploration of the viral and host determinants driving these variations in propagation efficiency.

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Differential intra-host infection kinetics inAedes aegyptiunderlie superior transmissibility of African relative to Asian Zika virus

Phengchat,

Pakparnich,

Pethrak

et al. 2023

Preprint

1

0

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Despite numerous studies highlighting the higher transmissibility of the African Zika virus (ZIKV) lineage compared to the Asian lineage in mosquito vectors, little is known about how the viruses interact with different tissues during the early steps of mosquito infection. To address this gap, we aimed to characterize intra-host infection barriers by combining a tissue-level monitoring of infection using plaque assays and a novel quantitative analysis of single-cell level infection kinetics byin situimmunofluorescent staining. Our results revealed that, inAedes aegypti, an African ZIKV strain exhibited a higher replication rate across various tissues than an Asian ZIKV strain. This difference was potentially due to a higher virus production in individual cells, faster spread within tissues, or a combination of both factors. Furthermore, we observed that higher bloodmeal titers resulted in a faster viral spread to neighboring cells suggesting that intra-host infection dynamics depend on inoculum size. We also identified a significant bottleneck during midgut infection establishment for both ZIKV lineages, with only a small percentage of the virus population successfully initiating infection. Finally, thein situimmunofluorescent staining technique enabled the examination of virus infection characteristics in different cell types and revealed heterogeneity in viral replication. Together, these findings demonstrate that differences in intra-host infection kinetics underlie differential transmissibility between African and Asian ZIKV lineages. This information could serve as a starting point to further investigate the underlying mechanisms and ultimately inform the development of alternative control strategies.

show abstract

Replication Variance of African and Asian Lineage Zika Virus Strains in Different Cell Lines, Mosquitoes and Mice

Cited by 4 publications

References 45 publications

Effects of Arboviral Infections on Transposable Element Transcript Levels in Aedes aegypti

Effects of Arboviral Infections on Transposable Element Transcript Levels in Aedes aegypti

Differential intra-host infection kinetics in Aedes aegypti underlie superior transmissibility of African relative to Asian Zika virus

Differential intra-host infection kinetics inAedes aegyptiunderlie superior transmissibility of African relative to Asian Zika virus

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