Behavioral and biological effects of arbovirus infection on culicoides sonorensis

Authors: Nayduch, Dana

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/7/2023
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Culicoides biting midges are important biological vectors of arboviruses such as bluetongue virus (BTV), epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which cause diseases that have significant morbidity and mortality impacts on livestock and/or wildlife. After the midge takes in the virus through blood feeding, it migrates throughout the body eventually to the salivary glands to be transmitted to the next host. However, these viruses also highly infect ommatidia (part of the eye), the brain, and other midge sensory tissues. Our research has shown that genes associated with vision, memory, and other behaviors are downregulated in midges infected with EHDV. We surmised that infection of the brain and ommatidia might underlie these downregulated genes and have conducted follow up experiments to examine whether there is an effect on behavior such as vision and circadian rhythm. The effects of BTV and/or VSV infection on midge vision and circadian activity patterns will be presented and discussed in this workshop.Uncovering the effects that arbovirus infections have on midge visual performance can be used to improve our ability to trap and survey infected midge populations in the field.