Research on Arboviruses

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Virology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2025) | Viewed by 113

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Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-909, Brazil
Interests: insect vector chitin metabolism (Rhodnius prolixus, Aedes aegypti); ABC transporters characterization; P-glycoprotein and insecticide resistance; entomological and epidemiological control of dengue and Zika; evaluation of larvicidal and adulticidal compounds; Aedes aegypti; iRNA; arbovirus; vector control; entomological control
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Dear Colleagues,

The Zika virus (ZIKV) gained global attention during the 2015–2016 epidemic due to its association with severe neurological issues such as microcephaly and Guillain–Barré syndrome. ZIKV, an RNA virus with a positive-sense genome, is transmitted via mosquitoes, sexual contact, maternal–fetal transmission, and blood transfusion. A study analyzed 1889 genomic deposits from NCBI, focusing on ZIKV’s global spread and transmission dynamics. Most samples came from the Americas (59%) and Asia (27%), with the Asian lineage predominating. In Africa (8%), the West African lineage was more prevalent. Human isolates comprised much of the dataset (77%), followed by deposits from mosquitoes (15%) and animals (2%). Field-collected mosquito samples—including eggs, larvae, and adult mosquitoes—tested positive for the East African ZIKV lineage, suggesting mosquito eggs could serve as viral reservoirs. The detection of ZIKV in mosquito eggs underscores their potential role in ZIKV persistence and highlights the importance of mosquitoes as active vectors in tropical and subtropical regions. This study emphasizes the value of genomic data to uncover the origins, transmission patterns, and evolutionary dynamics of ZIKV, providing key insights into the lineage diversity and epidemiological significance of this arbovirus.

Dr. Monica Ferreira Moreira
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Zika virus (ZIKV)
  • mosquito eggs
  • Aedes aegypti
  • ZIKV evolutionary dynamics
  • East African ZIKV lineage

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 3484 KB  
Article
Genomic and Transcriptomic Characterization of Umatilla Virus Isolated and Identified from Mosquitoes in Ningxia, China
by Kun Han, Yuhong Yang, Long Wang, Liqin Yu, Ruichen Wang, Xiaoyu Gu, Fan Li, Qikai Yin, Shihong Fu, Kai Nie, Qianqian Cui, Songtao Xu and Huanyu Wang
Microorganisms 2025, 13(12), 2717; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13122717 - 28 Nov 2025
Abstract
During the 2023 surveillance of mosquito-borne viruses in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, a strain of Umatilla virus (UMAV) was isolated from a pool of Culex pipiens pallens (NX23166) collected in Xiji County and cultured in C6/36 cells. Electron microscopy revealed that NX23166-infected mosquito [...] Read more.
During the 2023 surveillance of mosquito-borne viruses in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, a strain of Umatilla virus (UMAV) was isolated from a pool of Culex pipiens pallens (NX23166) collected in Xiji County and cultured in C6/36 cells. Electron microscopy revealed that NX23166-infected mosquito cells showed approximately 70-nm virus particles, typical of the genus Orbivirus. Through next-generation sequencing, 10 double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) segments of the virus were obtained. Phylogenetic and homology analyses based on these sequences revealed that this strain was most closely related to the first Chinese isolate from Yunnan in 2013 (DH13M98) and an Australian isolate from 2015 (M4941_15). However, the VP3 protein of this strain showed the closest evolutionary relationship to a German isolate from 2019 (ED-I-205-19), with an amino acid sequence identity of 94.00%. In contrast, the identity of the VP3 protein to that of other strains ranged only from 47.38% to 51.49%, suggesting that these two strains may belong to the same serotype. Nevertheless, this hypothesis needs to be further verified by a serum neutralization test. Furthermore, transcriptome sequencing analysis showed that infection with the Ningxia isolate of UMAV induced significant temporal transcriptomic reprogramming in C6/36 cells. This reprogramming was characterized by early activation of innate immune responses such as the Toll signaling pathway and autophagy, followed by significant suppression of metabolic pathways, including oxidative phosphorylation in the mid to late stages of infection, demonstrating a molecular phenotype of coordinated immune activation and metabolic suppression. These results provide new insights into the genetic diversity and geographic distribution of the species UMAV. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Arboviruses)
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