Back to Search Start Over

A microfluidic platform for highly parallel bite by bite profiling of mosquito-borne pathogen transmission.

Authors :
Kumar S
Hol FJH
Pujhari S
Ellington C
Narayanan HV
Li H
Rasgon JL
Prakash M
Source :
Nature communications [Nat Commun] 2021 Oct 14; Vol. 12 (1), pp. 6018. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Oct 14.
Publication Year :
2021

Abstract

Mosquito bites transmit a number of pathogens via salivary droplets deposited during blood-feeding, resulting in potentially fatal diseases. Little is known about the genomic content of these nanodroplets, including the transmission dynamics of live pathogens. Here we introduce Vectorchip, a low-cost, scalable microfluidic platform enabling high-throughput molecular interrogation of individual mosquito bites. We introduce an ultra-thin PDMS membrane which acts as a biting interface to arrays of micro-wells. Freely-behaving mosquitoes deposit saliva droplets by biting into these micro-wells. By modulating membrane thickness, we observe species-dependent differences in mosquito biting capacity, utilizable for selective sample collection. We demonstrate RT-PCR and focus-forming assays on-chip to detect mosquito DNA, Zika virus RNA, as well as quantify infectious Mayaro virus particles transmitted from single mosquito bites. The Vectorchip presents a promising approach for single-bite-resolution laboratory and field characterization of vector-pathogen communities, and could serve as a powerful early warning sentinel for mosquito-borne diseases.<br /> (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2041-1723
Volume :
12
Issue :
1
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Nature communications
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
34650045
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26300-0