Field-deployable molecular diagnostic platform for arbovirus andWolbachiadetection inAedes aegypti

Abstract

26Background: Surveillance of mosquito infection status is critical for planning and deployment 27 of proper mosquito control initiatives. Concurrently, Wolbachia is being widely used as a control 28 method for arboviral transmission. Point-of-care (POC) detection assays are necessary for 29 monitoring the infection prevalence and geographic range of viruses as well as Wolbachia in 30 mosquito vector populations. We therefore assessed the novel qPCR bCUBE molecular 31 diagnostic system as a tool for virus and Wolbachia detection. 32 Results: We developed a reliable, specific, and sensitive diagnostic assay for detecting Zika 33 virus and dengue virus serotype 2 using the real-time qPCR platform bCUBE. With bCUBE-34 based qRT-PCR, both Wolbachia bacterium and virus RNA could be reliably detected in 35 individually infected Ae. aegypti mosquitoes and in pools of 5, 10, or 15 mosquitoes. 36 Conclusions: The portable qPCR bCUBE diagnostic platform is capable of detecting Zika and 37 dengue virus as well as Wolbachia in mosquitoes and therefore has potential as a practical field-38 deployable diagnostic test for vector-borne disease surveillance programs. 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47