A Single Mutation in Chikungunya Virus Affects Vector Specificity and Epidemic Potential

By Konstantin A. Tsetsarkin, D. Vanlandingham, C. McGee, S. Higgs. PLoS Pathogens, 2007

1,532 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an emerging arbovirus associated with several recent large-scale epidemics. The 2005–2006 epidemic on Reunion island that resulted in approximately 266,000 human cases was associated with a strain of CHIKV with a mutation in the envelope protein gene (E1-A226V). To test the hypothesis that this mutation in the epidemic CHIKV (strain LR2006 OPY1) might influence fitness for different vector species, viral infectivity, dissemination, and transmission of CHIKV were compared in Aedes albopictus, the species implicated in the epidemic, and the recognized vector Ae. aegypti. Using viral infectious clones of the Reunion strain and a West African strain of CHIKV, into which either the E1–226 A or V mutation was engineered, we demonstrated that the E1-A226V mutation was directly responsible for a significant increase in CHIKV infectivity for Ae. albopictus, and led to more efficient viral dissemination into mosquito secondary organs and transmission to suckling mice. This mutation caused a marginal decrease in CHIKV Ae. aegypti midgut infectivity, had no effect on viral dissemination, and was associated with a slight increase in transmission by Ae. aegypti to suckling mice in competition experiments. The effect of the E1-A226V mutation on cholesterol dependence of CHIKV was also analyzed, revealing an association between cholesterol dependence and increased fitness of CHIKV in Ae. albopictus. Our observation that a single amino acid substitution can influence vector specificity provides a plausible explanation of how this mutant virus caused an epidemic in a region lacking the typical vector. This has important implications with respect to how viruses may establish a transmission cycle when introduced into a new area. Due to the widespread distribution of Ae. albopictus, this mutation increases the potential for CHIKV to permanently extend its range into Europe and the Americas.

Subfields: Infectious Diseases, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7a056c180f929fcea466120ad10c1cd1cff5b37e

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Citations in the corpus

Biology and pathogenesis of chikungunya virus (2010, background): “Jumping species — an atypical vector for CHIKV CHIKV is endemic to Africa, India and Southeast Asia and is transmitted to humans by several species of mosquito, with geographical variation”
The Impact of Mutations in SARS-CoV-2 Spike on Viral Infectivity and Antigenicity (2020, positive): “For example, A226V of Chikungunya virus E1 protein facilitated its adaptability in the vector Aedesalbopictus, resulting in an increased transmissibility (Tsetsarkin et al., 2007).”
Consequences of the Expanding Global Distribution of Aedes albopictus for Dengue Virus Transmission (2010, neutral): “albopictus [71–73].”
The Evolution and Emergence of RNA Viruses (2009, background): “2006) and vectors (Tsetsarkin et al. 2007), sometimes through changes in receptor specifi city (Suzuki 2006a), and even for increased virulence (Brault et al.”
A Wolbachia symbiont in Aedes aegypti limits infection with dengue, Chikungunya, and Plasmodium. (2009, background): “…human movement (Adams and Kapan, 2009) and global warming effects (Barclay, 2008; Pachauri and Reisinger, 2007) re-emerging arboviral pathogens (Gould and Solomon, 2008) such as dengue (DENV) and Chikungunya (CHIKV) viruses are becoming an increasing threat (Ng and Ojcius, 2009; Staples et al.,…”
The global distribution of the arbovirus vectors Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus (2015, neutral): “…could also improve our understanding of the complex interactions between mosquito vector populations and virus strains and how this relates to spatial variation in transmission intensity ( Tsetsarkin et al., 2007 ; Vazeille et al., 2007 ; Tsetsarkin and Weaver, 2011 ; Zouache et al., 2014 ).”
Present and Future Arboviral Threats (2009, background): “aegypti is absent or less abundant (Tsetsarkin et al., 2007;Vazeille et al., 2007).”
Zika Virus in Gabon (Central Africa) – 2007: A New Threat from Aedes albopictus? (2014, background): “However, given the relatively low ZIKV viral loads previously reported in patients - with an order of magnitude of 10(5) copies/ml compared to 10(7) to 10(9) copies/ml for CHIKV [16,18,40] - the oral infectivity for Ae.”