Starvation at the larval stage increases the vector competence of Aedes aegypti females for Zika virus.

ABSTRACT: Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of Zika virus (ZIKV), a flavivirus which typically presents itself as febrile-like symptoms in humans but can also cause neurological and pregnancy complications. The transmission cycle of mosquito-borne arboviruses such as ZIKV requires that various key tissues in the female mosquito get productively infected with the virus before the mosquito can transmit the virus to another vertebrate host. Following ingestion of a viremic blood-meal from a vertebrate, ZIKV initially infects the midgut epithelium before exiting the midgut after blood-meal digestion to disseminate to secondary tissues including the salivary glands. Here we investigated whether smaller Ae. aegypti females resulting from food deprivation as larvae exhibited an altered vector competence

SUBMITTER: Herd CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8659361 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature