Ultrastructural Analysis of Chikungunya Virus Dissemination from the Midgut of the Yellow Fever Mosquito, Aedes aegypti.

ABSTRACT: The transmission cycle of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) requires that mosquito vectors get persistently infected with the virus, following its oral acqsuisition from a vertebrate host. The mosquito midgut is the initial organ that gets infected with orally acquired CHIKV. Following its replication in the midgut epithelium, the virus exits the midgut and infects secondary tissues including the salivary glands before being transmitted to another host. Here, we investigate the pattern of CHIKV dissemination from the midgut of Aedes aegypti at the ultrastructural level. Bloodmeal ingestion caused overstretching of the midgut basal lamina (BL), which was disrupted in areas adjacent to muscles surrounding the midgut as shown by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Using both transmission elect

SUBMITTER: Kantor AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6213114 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature