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Zittra C, Vitecek S, Teixeira J, Weber D, Schindelegger B, Schaffner F, Weigand AM. Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Dark-Highlighting the Importance of Genetically Identifying Mosquito Populations in Subterranean Environments of Central Europe. Pathogens 2021; 10:pathogens10091090. [PMID: 34578123 PMCID: PMC8467396 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens10091090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2021] [Revised: 08/23/2021] [Accepted: 08/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The common house mosquito, Culex pipiens s. l. is part of the morphologically hardly or non-distinguishable Culex pipiens complex. Upcoming molecular methods allowed us to identify members of mosquito populations that are characterized by differences in behavior, physiology, host and habitat preferences and thereof resulting in varying pathogen load and vector potential to deal with. In the last years, urban and surrounding periurban areas were of special interest due to the higher transmission risk of pathogens of medical and veterinary importance. Recently, surveys of underground habitats were performed to fully evaluate the spatial distribution of rare members of the Cx. pipiens complex in Europe. Subterranean environments and their contribution to mosquito-borne pathogen transmission are virtually unknown. Herein, we review the underground community structures of this species complex in Europe, add new data to Germany and provide the first reports of the Cx. pipiens complex and usually rarely found mosquito taxa in underground areas of Luxembourg. Furthermore, we report the first finding of Culiseta glaphyroptera in Luxembourg. Our results highlight the need for molecular specimen identifications to correctly and most comprehensively characterize subterranean mosquito community structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina Zittra
- Unit Limnology, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria;
| | - Simon Vitecek
- WasserCluster Lunz—Biologische Station, 3293 Lunz am See, Austria; (S.V.); (B.S.)
- Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Gregor-Mendel-Strasse 33, 1180 Vienna, Austria
| | - Joana Teixeira
- Zoology Department, Musée National d’Histoire Naturelle de Luxembourg (MNHNL), 2160 Luxembourg, Luxembourg; (J.T.); (D.W.)
| | - Dieter Weber
- Zoology Department, Musée National d’Histoire Naturelle de Luxembourg (MNHNL), 2160 Luxembourg, Luxembourg; (J.T.); (D.W.)
| | | | | | - Alexander M. Weigand
- Zoology Department, Musée National d’Histoire Naturelle de Luxembourg (MNHNL), 2160 Luxembourg, Luxembourg; (J.T.); (D.W.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +352-462-240-212
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Zittra C, Moog O, Christian E, Fuehrer HP. DNA-aided identification of Culex mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) reveals unexpected diversity in underground cavities in Austria. Parasitol Res 2019; 118:1385-1391. [PMID: 30919062 PMCID: PMC6478630 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-019-06277-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2018] [Accepted: 02/26/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Subterranean cavities serve as resting places and hibernation shelters for mosquitoes. In Europe, members of the genus Culex are often the most abundant insects on cave walls. Culex pipiens L., the common house mosquito, exists in two physically very similar, yet genetically and ecologically distinct biotypes (or forms, 'f.'), namely Cx. pipiens f. pipiens and Cx. pipiens f. molestus. Autogeny and stenogamy of the latter form have been interpreted as adaptations to underground habitats. The epigean occurrence of the two biotypes and their hybrids was recently examined in Eastern Austria, but the hypogean distribution of the Cx. pipiens complex and morphologically similar non-members such as Cx. torrentium is unknown. Considering the key role of Culex mosquitoes in the epidemiology of certain zoonotic pathogens, the general paucity of data on species composition and relative abundance in subterranean shelters appears unfortunate.For a first pertinent investigation in Austria, we collected mosquitoes in four eastern federal states. Based on analyses of the ACE2 gene and the CQ11 microsatellite locus, 150 female and three male mosquitoes of the genus Culex, two females of the genus Culiseta and a single female of the genus Anopheles were determined to species level or below. In our catches, Cx. pipiens f. pipiens exceeded the apparent abundance of the purportedly cave-adapted Cx. pipiens f. molestus many times over. Records of Cx. hortensis and Cx. territans, two species rarely collected in Austria, lead us to infer that underground habitats host a higher diversity of culicine mosquitoes than previously thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina Zittra
- Institute of Parasitology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Otto Moog
- Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Gregor-Mendel-Straße 33/DG, 1180, Vienna, Austria
| | - Erhard Christian
- Institute of Zoology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Gregor-Mendel-Straße 33, 1180, Vienna, Austria
| | - Hans-Peter Fuehrer
- Institute of Parasitology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria
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Öncü C, Brinkmann A, Günay F, Kar S, Öter K, Sarıkaya Y, Nitsche A, Linton YM, Alten B, Ergünay K. West Nile virus, Anopheles flavivirus, a novel flavivirus as well as Merida-like rhabdovirus Turkey in field-collected mosquitoes from Thrace and Anatolia. INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION 2017; 57:36-45. [PMID: 29128516 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2017.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2017] [Revised: 11/04/2017] [Accepted: 11/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Mosquitoes are involved in the transmission and maintenance of several viral diseases with significant health impact. Biosurveillance efforts have also revealed insect-specific viruses, observed to cocirculate with pathogenic strains. This report describes the findings of flavivirus and rhabdovirus screening, performed in eastern Thrace and Aegean region of Anatolia during 2016, including and expanding on locations with previously-documented virus activity. A mosquito cohort of 1545 individuals comprising 14 species were collected and screened in 108 pools via generic and specific amplification and direct metagenomics by next generation sequencing. Seven mosquito pools (6.4%) were positive in the flavivirus screening. West Nile virus lineage 1 clade 1a sequences were characterized in a pool Culex pipiens sensu lato specimens, providing the initial virus detection in Aegean region following 2010 outbreak. In an Anopheles maculipennis sensu lato pool, sequences closely-related to Anopheles flaviviruses were obtained, with similarities to several African and Australian strains of this new insect-specific flavivirus clade. In pools comprising Uranotaenia unguiculata (n=3), Cx. pipiens s.l. (n=1) and Aedes caspius (n=1) mosquitoes, sequences of a novel flavivirus, distantly-related to Flavivirus AV2011, identified previously in Spain and Turkey, were characterized. Moreover, DNA forms of the novel flavivirus were detected in two Ur. unguiculata pools. These sequences were highly-similar to the sequences amplified from viral RNA, with undisrupted reading frames, suggest the occurrence of viral DNA forms in natural conditions within mosquito hosts. Rhabdovirus screening revealed sequences of a recently-described novel virus, named the Merida-like virus Turkey (MERDLVT) in 5 Cx. pipiens s.l. pools (4.6%). Partial L and N gene sequences of MERDLVT were well-conserved among strains, with evidence for geographical clustering in phylogenetic analyses. Metagenomics provided the near-full genomic sequence in a specimen, revealing an identical genome organization and limited divergence from the prototype MERDLVT isolate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ceren Öncü
- Hacettepe University, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biology, Division of Ecology, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Annika Brinkmann
- Robert Koch Institute, Center for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens 1 (ZBS-1), Berlin, Germany
| | - Filiz Günay
- Hacettepe University, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biology, Division of Ecology, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Sırrı Kar
- Namık Kemal University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology, Tekirdağ, Turkey
| | - Kerem Öter
- Istanbul University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology, Turkey
| | - Yasemen Sarıkaya
- Hacettepe University, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biology, Division of Ecology, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Andreas Nitsche
- Robert Koch Institute, Center for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens 1 (ZBS-1), Berlin, Germany
| | - Yvonne-Marie Linton
- Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit, Museum Support Center MRC-534, Smithsonian Institution, MD, USA; Department of Entomology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD, USA; Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Bülent Alten
- Hacettepe University, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biology, Division of Ecology, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Koray Ergünay
- Robert Koch Institute, Center for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens 1 (ZBS-1), Berlin, Germany; Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Microbiology, Virology Unit, Ankara, Turkey.
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The thermophilic mosquito species Uranotaenia unguiculata Edwards, 1913 (Diptera: Culicidae) moves north in Germany. Parasitol Res 2017; 116:3437-3440. [PMID: 29103095 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-017-5652-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2017] [Accepted: 10/11/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Uranotaenia unguiculata is a thermophilic mosquito species frequently occurring in the Mediterranean. Its first detection in the southern German Upper Rhine Valley in 1994 represented its northernmost distribution limit for a long time. During recent mosquito monitoring activities, two specimens of the species were trapped at different localities, about 70 km apart, in northeastern Germany, some 300-km latitude north of previous collection sites. It is not known whether Ur. unguiculata is vector-competent for disease agents although specimens collected in the field were found infected with West Nile virus and Dirofilaria repens. The finding of the species in northern Germany is probably a further example of mosquito species spreading northwards as a consequence of climate warming.
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Filatov S. Little pigeons can carry great messages: potential distribution and ecology of Uranotaenia (Pseudoficalbia) unguiculata Edwards, 1913 (Diptera: Culicidae), a lesser-known mosquito species from the Western Palaearctic. Parasit Vectors 2017; 10:464. [PMID: 29017545 PMCID: PMC5634949 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-017-2410-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2017] [Accepted: 09/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Uranotaenia unguiculata is a Palaearctic mosquito species with poorly known distribution and ecology. This study is aimed at filling the gap in our understanding of the species potential distribution and its environmental requirements through a species distribution modelling (SDM) exercise. Furthermore, aspects of the mosquito ecology that may be relevant to the epidemiology of certain zoonotic vector-borne diseases in Europe are discussed. RESULTS A maximum entropy (Maxent) modelling approach has been applied to predict the potential distribution of Ur. unguiculata in the Western Palaearctic. Along with the high accuracy and predictive power, the model reflects well the known species distribution and predicts as highly suitable some areas where the occurrence of the species is hitherto unknown. CONCLUSIONS To our knowledge, the potential distribution of a mosquito species from the genus Uranotaenia is modelled for the first time. Provided that Ur. unguiculata is a widely-distributed species, and some pathogens of zoonotic concern have been detected in this mosquito on several occasions, the question regarding its host associations and possible epidemiological role warrants further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serhii Filatov
- National Scientific Center Institute of Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
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