Engineering RNA interference-based resistance to dengue virus type 2 in genetically modified Aedes aegypti.

ABSTRACT: Mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) were genetically modified to exhibit impaired vector competence for dengue type 2 viruses (DENV-2). We exploited the natural antiviral RNA interference (RNAi) pathway in the mosquito midgut by constructing an effector gene that expresses an inverted-repeat (IR) RNA derived from the premembrane protein coding region of the DENV-2 RNA genome. The A. aegypti carboxypeptidase A promoter was used to express the IR RNA in midgut epithelial cells after ingestion of a bloodmeal. The promoter and effector gene were inserted into the genome of a white-eye Puerto Rico Rexville D (Higgs' white eye) strain by using the nonautonomous mariner MosI transformation system. A transgenic family, Carb77, expressed IR RNA in the midgut after a bloodmeal. Carb77 mosquitoes ingesting an

SUBMITTER: Franz AW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1449670 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature