Insect-specific viruses detected in laboratory mosquito colonies and their potential implications for experiments evaluating arbovirus vector competence.

ABSTRACT: Recently, there has been a dramatic increase in the detection and characterization of insect-specific viruses in field-collected mosquitoes. Evidence suggests that these viruses are ubiquitous in nature and that many are maintained by vertical transmission in mosquito populations. Some studies suggest that the presence of insect-specific viruses may inhibit replication of a super-infecting arbovirus, thus altering vector competence of the mosquito host. Accordingly, we screened our laboratory mosquito colonies for insect-specific viruses. Pools of colony mosquitoes were homogenized and inoculated into cultures of Aedes albopictus (C6/36) cells. The infected cells were examined by electron microscopy and deep sequencing was performed on RNA extracts. Electron micrograph images indicated the

SUBMITTER: Bolling BG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4347351 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature