Location: Foreign Arthropod Borne Animal Disease Research
Project Number: 3022-32000-025-022-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2023
End Date: Aug 30, 2026
Objective:
Arbovirus transmission is dependent on complex interactions involving virus, arthropod vector, mammalian host, and environment. Despite the importance of vector-borne diseases, replication, pathogenesis, transmission, and disease epidemiology are poorly understood. Host and vector transcriptional responses encompasses the activation and/or suppression of critical viral host and restriction factors that ultimately affect the output of infection and arboviral transmission dynamics. Hence, understanding such complex interactions may shed light on the development of innovative tools to control such viruses. The goal of this study is to develop tools to investigate virus-vector-host interactions using a variety of modern technologies.
Approach:
The approach is split into three parts: A) develop a transcriptomics analysis workflow to determine factors and pathways associated with virus infection using new experimental and currently available samples from previous arboviruses experimental studies including Japanese encephalitis and Rift Valley fever virus (JEV and RVFV respectively), B) assist in generation of NGS data from upcoming experimental arbovirus infections studies in vector mosquitoes and livestock, C) continue to apply modern technologies for virus-vector-host interactions. This includes investigation of the effects of temperature on JEV and RVFV extrinsic incubation period in two mosquito species. Briefly, standard transcriptomic approaches will be applied to previous and ongoing arboviral research studies. The cooperator will develop an NGS and bioinformatics workflow to identify factors affecting arboviral replication.
