Abstract
Viruses are ubiquitous and diverse microorganisms arising as a result of interactions within their vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. Here we report the presence of different viruses in the salivary glands of 1657 mosquitoes classified over 28 culicinae species from the North region of the Brazilian Pantanal wetland through metagenomics, viral isolation, and RT-PCR. In total, 12 viruses were found, eight putative novel viruses with relatively low similarity with pre-existing species of viruses within their families, named Pirizal iflavirus, Furrundu phlebovirus, Pixé phlebovirus, Guampa vesiculovirus, Chacororé flavivirus, Rasqueado orbivirus, Uru chuvirus, and Bororo circovirus. We also found the already described Lobeira dielmorhabdovirus, Sabethes flavivirus, Araticum partitivirus, and Murici totivirus. Therefore, these findings underscore the vast diversity of culicinae and novel viruses yet to be explored in Pantanal, the largest wetland on the planet.
Highlights
Pantanal is the largest natural tropical wetland on Earth, encompassing 151,487 km2 in Brazil and small portions in Eastern Bolivia and Northeast Paraguay
More than 650 terrestrial vertebrates species (96 reptiles, 40 amphibians, 390 birds, and 130 mammals) [1] and more than 9000 invertebrate species have been described in this biome [2,3], including a wide variety of hematophagous arthropods known as vectors of human and animal pathogenic arboviruses [4]
We describe 12 viruses predominantly detected in the dry climatic period and infecting mosquitoes from the High Pantanal region; eight represent previously undescribed viruses
Summary
Pantanal is the largest natural tropical wetland on Earth, encompassing 151,487 km in Brazil and small portions in Eastern Bolivia and Northeast Paraguay. More than 650 terrestrial vertebrates species (96 reptiles, 40 amphibians, 390 birds, and 130 mammals) [1] and more than 9000 invertebrate species have been described in this biome [2,3], including a wide variety of hematophagous arthropods known as vectors of human and animal pathogenic arboviruses [4] Taken together, these factors may contribute to arboviruses maintenance in Pantanal, making it a priority region for arbovirus discovery and surveillance in Brazil. Previous studies have demonstrated arbovirus serology and isolation in animals and mosquitoes, and the isolation of novel insect-specific viruses in South Pantanal [5,6,7,8,9]
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