Abstract
Despite the availability of an efficient vaccine, Yellow fever (YF), a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes, is still a threat. In Brazil, the yellow fever virus (YFV) has been restricted to a jungle cycle for more than 70 years. However, YFV has recently invaded populated cities in the Southeast such as Rio de Janeiro where the opportunistic mosquito Aedes albopictus is well established. Using in vivo passages of YFV in Ae. albopictus, we have selected viral strains presenting substitutions in NS1 gene. We did 10 passages of YFV-74018 on two distinct Ae. albopictus populations: (i) Manaus collected from a YFV-endemic area in Amazonia and (ii) PNMNI from a YFV-free area in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Full viral genomes were deep sequenced at each passage. We obtained two YFV strains presenting a non-synonymous substitution in the NS1 gene. Interestingly, they intervened at two different positions in NS1 gene according to the mosquito population: I2772T in Ae. albopictus Manaus and S3303N in Ae. albopictus PNMNI. Both substitutions reached fixation at the passage 10. Our data suggest that YFV has the potential for adaption to Ae. albopictus thereby posing a threat to most cities in South America where this mosquito is present.
Highlights
Yellow fever virus (YFV), an arbovirus of the Flavivirus genus and the Flaviviridae family, causes a disease endemic to tropical regions of Africa and South America
In Africa, yellow fever virus (YFV) circulates within three distinct cycles: (i) a jungle cycle where YFV is transmitted between non-human primates by canopy-dwelling mosquitoes such as Aedes africanus, (ii) an intermediate or savannah cycle involving several zoophilic mosquitoes, and (iii) an urban cycle where YFV is transmitted between humans by the domestic and human-biting mosquito Aedes aegypti
We describe YFV strains selected after 10 passages on Ae. albopictus mosquitoes to mimic repeated interactions of the virus with an invasive mosquito previously described as a poor YFV vector
Summary
Yellow fever virus (YFV), an arbovirus of the Flavivirus genus and the Flaviviridae family, causes a disease endemic to tropical regions of Africa and South America. It is a single-stranded, positive sense RNA virus with a genome of approximately 11 kb. Despite being susceptible to infection with YFV in laboratory conditions, infected Ae. albopictus have never been found in natural settings[17,19] It is coincidently more densely distributed in the Southeast region where the YFV is actively transmitted[21] (http://portalarquivos.saude.gov.br/images/pdf/2017/junho/02/ COES-FEBRE-AMARELA–INFORME-43–Atualiza----o-em-31maio2017.pdf), enhancing significantly the chances of contacts between this mosquito and the virus. After five additional passages using virus collected from saliva, resulting viral strains were examined to identify genetic changes in the viral genome
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