Arboviruses in Mosquitoes

• Grant number: 25/04887-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: May 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Entomology and Malacology of Parasites and Vectors
• Principal Investigator: Carsten Wrenger
• Grantee: Rafaella Sayuri Ioshino Takara
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 23/07746-0 - Drug discovery against human viral infectious diseases, AP.TEM

Abstract

The vector mosquito populations from different locations in Brazil may present differences in susceptibility to arboviruses. This variation in infection capacity may be related to several factors, such as genomic diversity of the pathogen and/or host, and environmental conditions of the habitat where the vector is inserted. Therefore, this project aims to evaluate the infection profile of arboviruses in Aedes and Culex mosquitoes. The insects' eggs and immature stages (larvae and pupae) will be collected in different locations in Brazil to establish colonies in the laboratory. The colonies will be used in experimental infection tests to evaluate the susceptibility, vector competence (VC), the tissues involved during infection by the different viruses, and the efficiency of some drugs in blocking or reducing infection in mosquitoes. The arboviruses that will be evaluated in this project belong to the Family Flaviviridae such as West Nile virus (WNV). After stabilization of the mosquito colony, Culex will be infected with WNV, and initial drug assays will be performed. Additionally, a transgenic infectious WNV hosting the sequence of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) will be used to visualize virus proliferation within infected mosquitoes by fluorescence microscopy using the Zeiss Axio Observer Z1 which is based in the "BSL3 cell Culture Facility for Vector and Animal Research" at ICB-USP. All experiments regarding WNV infections will be performed at BSL-3 level. (AU)