1. West African Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes harbor a taxonomically diverse virome including new insect-specific flaviviruses, mononegaviruses, and totiviruses.
- Author
-
Fauver JR, Grubaugh ND, Krajacich BJ, Weger-Lucarelli J, Lakin SM, Fakoli LS 3rd, Bolay FK, Diclaro JW 2nd, Dabiré KR, Foy BD, Brackney DE, Ebel GD, and Stenglein MD
- Subjects
- Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Biodiversity, Burkina Faso, Flavivirus classification, Flavivirus genetics, Genes, Viral, Genome, Viral, Insect Vectors virology, Insect Viruses genetics, Liberia, Metagenome, Metagenomics, Open Reading Frames, Phylogeny, RNA Viruses classification, RNA Viruses genetics, Senegal, Totivirus classification, Totivirus genetics, Anopheles virology, Insect Viruses classification, Microbiota
- Abstract
Anopheles gambiae are a major vector of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. Viruses that naturally infect these mosquitoes may impact their physiology and ability to transmit pathogens. We therefore used metagenomics sequencing to search for viruses in adult Anopheles mosquitoes collected from Liberia, Senegal, and Burkina Faso. We identified a number of virus and virus-like sequences from mosquito midgut contents, including 14 coding-complete genome segments and 26 partial sequences. The coding-complete sequences define new viruses in the order Mononegavirales, and the families Flaviviridae, and Totiviridae. The identification of a flavivirus infecting Anopheles mosquitoes broadens our understanding of the evolution and host range of this virus family. This study increases our understanding of virus diversity in general, begins to define the virome of a medically important vector in its natural setting, and lays groundwork for future studies examining the potential impact of these viruses on anopheles biology and disease transmission., (Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF