Abstract
Dengue is the arboviral disease of highest public health relevance due to its recent expansion in urban areas worldwide. Since vaccines and drug therapies are still not available and mosquito control programs have been insufficient to impair dengue outbreaks, the development of new tools for dengue control is urgently needed. However, this is limited by the poor understanding of the molecular mechanisms that govern virus-vector interactions. Mosquitoes have their midguts colonized by a symbiotic microbiota, which directly influences several physiological processes, including immune system maturation and protection against pathogens. Recent studies suggest that the gut microbiota is an important factor affecting mosquito's vector competence. Removal of these microbes through an antibiotic treatment leads to higher loads of dengue virus (DENV) in the Ae. aegypti midgut. Nonetheless, this mechanism is still widely unknown. In this scenario, this work aims to elucidate the factors related to the microbiota-mediated anti-DENV response in wild Ae. aegypti populations. The execution of this proposal will significantly improve our understanding of the complexes interactions between DENV and its vector. Furthermore, through the identification of anti-DENV bacteria, it has the potential to lead to the isolation of new antiviral compounds and the generation of mosquito lines refractory to the virus. These events would contribute directly to decrease dengue transmission in endemic areas. (AU)
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