Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology/Zoonosis Science Center, Uppsala University, Box 582, 751 23 Uppsala, Sweden.
Viruses. 2022 Aug 30;14(9):1915. doi: 10.3390/v14091915.
Vertical transmission (VT) is a phenomenon of vector-borne diseases where a pathogen is transferred from an infected arthropod mother to her offspring. For mosquito-borne flavi- and alphaviruses, VT is commonly viewed as rare; however, both field and experimental studies report on vertical transmission efficiency to a notably varying degree. It is likely that this reflects the different experimental methods used to test vertical transmission efficiency as well as differences between virus-vector combinations. There are very few investigations of the VT of an alphavirus in a vector. Sindbis virus (SINV) is an arthritogenic alphavirus that utilizes species as main vectors both in the summer transmission season and for its persistence over the winter period in northern latitudes. In this study, we investigated the vertical transmission of the SINV in vectors, both in the field and in experimental settings. The detection of SINV RNA in field-collected egg rafts and emerging adults shows that vertical transmission takes place in the field. Experimentally infected females gave rise to adult offspring containing SINV RNA at emergence; however, three to four weeks after emergence none of the offspring contained SINV RNA. This study shows that vertical transmission may be connected to SINV's ability to persist throughout northern winters and also highlights many aspects of viral replication that need further study.
垂直传播(VT)是一种虫媒病现象,病原体从感染的节肢动物母亲传播到她的后代。对于蚊媒黄病毒和甲病毒,VT 通常被认为很少见;然而,现场和实验研究都报告了垂直传播效率的显著差异。这很可能反映了用于测试垂直传播效率的不同实验方法以及病毒-载体组合之间的差异。很少有研究调查一种甲病毒在载体中的垂直传播。辛德毕斯病毒(SINV)是一种致关节炎的甲病毒,在夏季传播季节和北方冬季的持续时间内,主要利用 作为载体。在这项研究中,我们研究了 SINV 在 载体中的垂直传播,包括在野外和实验环境中。在野外采集的卵筏和新出现的成虫中检测到 SINV RNA 表明垂直传播发生在野外。实验感染的雌性产生了含有 SINV RNA 的成虫后代;然而,在出现后三到四周,没有一个后代含有 SINV RNA。这项研究表明,垂直传播可能与 SINV 在整个北方冬季的持续存在能力有关,同时也突出了病毒复制的许多方面,这些方面需要进一步研究。