Discovery of Novel Viruses in Mosquitoes from the Zambezi Valley of Mozambique.
Mosquitoes carry a wide variety of viruses that can cause vector-borne infectious diseases and affect both human and veterinary public health. Although Mozambique can be considered a hot spot for emerging infectious diseases due to factors such as a rich vector population and a close vector/human/wildlife interface, the viral flora in mosquitoes have not previously been investigated. In this study, viral metagenomics was employed to analyze the viral communities in Culex and Mansonia mosquitoes in the Zambezia province of Mozambique. Among the 1.7 and 2.6 million sequences produced from the Culex and Mansonia samples, respectively, 3269 and 983 reads were classified as viral sequences. Viruses belonging to the Flaviviridae, Rhabdoviridae and Iflaviridae families were detected, and different unclassified single- and double-stranded RNA viruses were also identified. A near complete genome of a flavivirus, tentatively named Cuacua virus, was obtained from the Mansonia mosquitoes. Phylogenetic analysis of this flavivirus, using the NS5 amino acid sequence, showed that it grouped with 'insect-specific' viruses and was most closely related to Nakiwogo virus previously identified in Uganda. Both mosquito genera had viral sequences related to Rhabdoviruses, and these were most closely related to Culex tritaeniorhynchus rhabdovirus (CTRV). The results from this study suggest that several viruses specific for insects belonging to, for example, the Flaviviridae and Rhabdoviridae families, as well as a number of unclassified RNA viruses, are present in mosquitoes in Mozambique.
Section of Virology, Department of Biomedical and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden.
Harindranath
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7351-8693
H
Cholleti
SLU Global Bioinformatics Centre, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Juliette
J
Hayer
National Institute of Health, Maputo, Mozambique.
Ana Paula
AP
Abilio
Division of Molecular Diagnostics and Epidemiology, Biotechnology Center, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.
Fernando Chanisso
FC
Mulandane
Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden.
Jenny
J
Verner-Carlsson
Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden.|Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC), Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Kerstin I
KI
Falk
Division of Molecular Diagnostics and Epidemiology, Biotechnology Center, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.
Jose M
JM
Fafetine
Section of Virology, Department of Biomedical and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden.
Mikael
M
Berg
Section of Virology, Department of Biomedical and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden.
Anne-Lie
AL
Blomström
Virology. 2014 Jan 5;448:146-58
24314645
Viruses. 2015 Sep 10;7(9):4911-28
26378568
Mol Biol Evol. 1987 Jul;4(4):406-25
3447015
Nat Methods. 2012 Mar 04;9(4):357-9
22388286
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2011 Jul;85(1):169-77
21734144
PLoS Pathog. 2015 Feb 13;11(2):e1004664
25679389
Elife. 2015 Jan 29;4:null
25633976
Viruses. 2015 Apr 10;7(4):1927-59
25866904
Lancet. 2008 Feb 9;371(9611):500-9
18262042
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1962 Sep;11:683-4
14034312
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2015 Feb;92(2):422-8
25510714
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2015 Nov;93(5):1014-9
26304915
Mol Biol Evol. 2013 Dec;30(12):2725-9
24132122
Virus Res. 2014 Feb 13;180:31-8
24342141
PLoS One. 2015 Mar 23;10(3):e0121609
25799057
Arch Virol. 2003 Jun;148(6):1095-118
12756617
Parasit Vectors. 2012 Oct 08;5:223
23043958
Virus Res. 2012 Aug;167(2):152-61
22579596
PLoS One. 2015 Jun 01;10(6):e0129845
26030271
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Sep 25;98(20):11609-14
11562506
Virology. 1975 Apr;64(2):367-77
806166
Adv Virus Res. 2003;59:277-314
14696332
Virol J. 2012 Sep 11;9:192
22967311
Bioinformatics. 2011 Mar 15;27(6):863-4
21278185
J Med Entomol. 2005 Sep;42(5):909-11
16363175
J Gen Virol. 2012 Feb;93(Pt 2):223-34
22012464
J Med Entomol. 2011 Sep;48(5):1031-8
21936322
J Virol. 2011 Jul;85(13):6185-96
21507977
J Virol. 2013 Dec;87(23):12850-65
24067954
J Gen Virol. 2012 Jun;93(Pt 6):1215-25
22377581
PLoS One. 2016 Mar 16;11(3):e0151481
26982708
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2011 Aug;11(8):1099-105
21254845
Virology. 1992 Aug;189(2):511-24
1322586
J Gen Virol. 2009 Nov;90(Pt 11):2669-78
19656970
Virology. 2007 Mar 15;359(2):405-14
17070886
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Jun 16;112(24):7536-41
26038576
PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e56534
23460804
Nature. 2008 Feb 21;451(7181):990-3
18288193
J Med Entomol. 2007 Jan;44(1):93-101
17294926
Acta Virol. 2004;48(3):135-43
15595206
J Gen Virol. 2014 Dec;95(Pt 12):2796-808
25146007
Virology. 2015 Dec;486:272-83
26519596