Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have made an important finding about Aedes aegypti mosquitoes—one that could one day lead to better methods for reducing the mosquito-to-human transmission of dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and other harmful and sometimes deadly viruses.
Ae. aegypti mosquitoes do not succumb to these viruses when infected and continue to move and feed normally. As such, thecan pass their viral cargoes on to humans. The researchers discovered that an Ae. aegypti protein, Argonaute 2, has a key role—via several biological mechanisms—in keeping mosquitoes healthy and active despite these infections.
Instead of making mosquitoes more resistant to the viruses, the discovery opens a possible path for making mosquitoes more susceptible and less tolerant toThe research was published online September 18 in"Researchers have long wondered why Ae.
Ae. aegypti mosquitoes are effective vectors of arborviruses because they can sustain significant infections with these viruses without suffering costs to their overall ability to reproduce—what biologists call"fitness." If the mosquitoes' fitness was impaired, they would likely have evolved strong defenses against these pathogens.
The researchers found that in Ae. aegypti mosquitoes lacking the Ago2 gene, the siRNA pathway is impaired, arborvirus infection becomes more severe, and the mosquitoes' ability to transmit these viruses drops sharply—as they sicken, feed less, and often die within days.
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