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. 2017 Jul 17;11(7):e0005760.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005760. eCollection 2017 Jul.

Zika virus alters the microRNA expression profile and elicits an RNAi response in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Miguel A Saldaña  1 , Kayvan Etebari  2 , Charles E Hart  3 , Steven G Widen  4 , Thomas G Wood  4 , Saravanan Thangamani  5 , Sassan Asgari  2 , Grant L Hughes  5
Affiliations

Zika virus alters the microRNA expression profile and elicits an RNAi response in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Miguel A Saldaña et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. .

Abstract

Zika virus (ZIKV), a flavivirus transmitted primarily by Aedes aegypti, has recently spread globally in an unprecedented fashion, yet we have a poor understanding of host-microbe interactions in this system. To gain insights into the interplay between ZIKV and the mosquito, we sequenced the small RNA profiles in ZIKV-infected and non-infected Ae. aegypti mosquitoes at 2, 7 and 14 days post-infection. ZIKA induced an RNAi response in the mosquito with virus-derived short interfering RNAs and PIWI-interacting RNAs dramatically increased in abundance post-infection. Further, we found 17 host microRNAs (miRNAs) that were modulated by ZIKV infection at all time points. Strikingly, many of these regulated miRNAs have been reported to have their expression altered by dengue and West Nile viruses, while the response was divergent from that induced by the alphavirus Chikungunya virus in mosquitoes. This suggests that conserved miRNA responses occur within mosquitoes in response to flavivirus infection. This study expands our understanding of ZIKV-vector interactions and provides potential avenues to be further investigated to target ZIKV in the mosquito host.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Length distribution of mappable reads to the Ae. aegypti genome obtained from ZIKV-infected and non-infected mosquitoes at day 2, 7 and 14 post-inoculation.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Ae. aegypti miRNAs are differentially expressed upon ZIKV infection.
The graphs show Log2 fold changes of a number of Ae. aegypti miRNAs based on deep sequencing data and RT-qPCR analysis of RNA samples from non-infected and ZIKV-infected mosquitoes at 2, 7 and 14 dpi. Fold changes are averages of three biological replicates.
Fig 3
Fig 3. ZIKV elicits an RNAi response in Ae. aegypti mosquitoes.
(A) Length distribution of mappable reads to the ZIKV genome in small RNA libraries of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes at 2, 7 and 14 days post-inoculation (dpi). (B) Analysis of virus-derived short interfering RNAs (viRNAs) in Ae. aegypti ZIKV-infected mosquitoes. Distribution of 21 nt RNA reads that were mapped across the sense (blue) and anti-sense (red) strands of the ZIKV genome at 2, 7 and 14 dpi.
Fig 4
Fig 4. ZIKV-specific piRNA-like small RNAs in infected Ae. aegypti mosquitoes.
Distribution of 24–30 nt small RNAs that mapped across the sense (blue) and anti-sense (red) strands of the ZIKV genome at 2, 7 and 14 dpi.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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