Viral Metagenomic Analysis of Aedes albopictus Mosquitos from Southern Switzerland

Abstract

A metagenomic study was performed on 498 female and 40 male Aedes albopictus mosquitos collected in August and September 2019 in Ticino, a region in southern Switzerland, to address the question regarding the risk of the local transmission of zoonotic viruses. A total of 13 viruses from seven different virus families and several unclassified viral taxa were identified. Reads of insect-specific flaviviruses were present in all pools, and a complete genome of aedes flavivirus was assembled and phylogenetically analysed. The most abundant virus was Wenzhou sobemo-like virus, assembled from 1.3 × 105 to 3.6 × 106 reads in each pool. In a pool of male mosquitos, a complete genome of aedes Iflavi-like virus was detected and phylogenetically analysed. Most importantly, genomes of human pathogenic viruses were not found. This is the first study to determine the virome of Ae. albopictus from Switzerland and forms a baseline for future longitudinal investigations concerning the potential role of Ae. albopictus as a vector of clinically relevant viruses.

Metagenomic analysis of fecal and tissue samples from 18 endemic bat species in Switzerland revealed a diverse virus composition including potentially zoonotic viruses

“…Viral RNA and DNA was prepared by using the QIAmp Viral RNA Mini kit (Qiagen, Hombrechtikon, Switzerland) as described by the manufacturer with modifications: the RNA carrier was omitted and, as a first step, 594 μl of AVL buffer was mixed with 6 μl of 1% β-mercaptoethanol (Bio-rad, Hercules, California, USA). The nucleic acid was eluted with 20 μl of RNase free water and 20 μl of Tris-EDTA buffer (TE) [ 64 , 65 ].…”

“…Sequencing data was used in reference guided analysis and de novo assembly pipelines as described previously [ 65 ]. The PCR primers, sequencing adaptors, and low-quality ends in raw reads were trimmed using Trimmomatic (version 0.36) and cutadapt (version 2.9).…”

Virome in adult Aedes albopictus captured during different seasons in Guangzhou City, China

“…According to the collection sites and seasons, mosquitoes were randomly selected and pooled into four samples for viral metagenomic analysis (Additional file 1 : Table S1). Pooled samples were homogenized in liquid nitrogen and then suspended in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) [ 47 , 48 ]. The supernatant was filtered through a 0.22-mm filter, and the filtered samples were then concentrated using centrifugal ultrafiltration tubes.…”

“…However, few studies have used next-generation sequencing methods to investigate the virome in Ae. albopictus [ 45 , 46 ].…”

Molecular Identification of a Novel Iflavirus in Brown-Spotted Pitvipers (Protobothrops Mucrosquamatus)

“…The i avirus genome organization is monopartite and monocistronic, encoding capsid proteins at the 5´ end and replicase proteins at the 3´ end [2]. All classi ed i avirus species infect arthropod hosts, mostly insects, including the honey bee [3], planthopper [4], soybean thrip [5], Varroa destructor [6], aedes mosquito [7,8], sogatella furcifera [9] and leafhopper [10].…”