Flavivirus-Vector Interactions
Ken E. Olson and Carol D. Blair
from: Molecular Virology and Control of Flaviviruses (Edited by: Pei-Yong Shi). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2012)
Abstract
Flaviviruses such as dengue, yellow fever and West Nile viruses continue to cause a significant amount of disease in humans. Most flaviviruses are maintained in nature by cycling between hematophagus arthropod vectors and vertebrate hosts, and the viruses need to replicate in both vectors and hosts. This review focuses on flavivirus-vector interactions to present a current understanding of events and processes that lead to vector infection, virus amplification and dissemination, transmission. This chapter will focus mainly on DENVs and their interactions with Aedes aegypti, but will include interactions between other flaviviruses and their vectors where approriate. Flavivirus-mosquito cell interactions will be discussed first to give the reader a cellular view of the infection process but this will be followed with a view of the infection process in vectors. This review will describe flavivirus interactions with the vector's innate immune (Toll, Jak-Stat, apoptosis) and antiviral (RNA interference) pathways and discuss flavivirus evolution and its consequences for vector infection, DENV transmission and genotype displacement. The review will dicuss how our understanding of vector genetics is enhanced by the availability of genome databases for A. aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus, tissue-specific transcriptomes and microarrays and small RNA databases. The chapter will also discuss RNA silencing and vector transgenesis as tools for defining gene function. Finally, we will review several recently described vector-based approaches that may result in new strategies for flavivrus disease control read more ...
