Aedes aegypti (Ae. aegypti) mosquitoes are the main vectors of dengue viruses (DENV-1, -2, -3 and -4), which caused severe viral epidemics in the past decades. However, even within this species, the ability of a given mosquito population to be infected and transmit a given virus is highly variable. In fact, certain Ae. aegypti populations are very efficient at getting infected and transmitting DENV and are “susceptible” to a viral strain, while others are not and are therefore called “resistant” to that virus. The exact molecular mechanisms underlying this natural variation remain unknown, due to technical limitations to resolve biological variation. Critical steps during the infection, such as virus entry, virus replication and virus transmission are mediated by key mosquito organs: the midgut (mosquito’s stomach) and the fat body. So far, little is known about how these organs are involved in resistance or susceptibility to viral infection
This project will address this knowledge gap and uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying mosquito susceptibility or resistance to DENV. To understand why some mosquito populations are better viral vectors than others, we identified susceptible and resistant virus-mosquito pairs. We aim to uncover the cellular and genetic factors mediating susceptibility or resistance at the single-cell level in midgut and fat body of DENV-infected mosquito.
