Novel Viruses in Mosquitoes from Brazilian Pantanal

Abstract

Viruses are ubiquitous and diverse microorganisms arising as a result of interactions within their vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. Here we report the presence of different viruses in the salivary glands of 1657 mosquitoes classified over 28 culicinae species from the North region of the Brazilian Pantanal wetland through metagenomics, viral isolation, and RT-PCR. In total, 12 viruses were found, eight putative novel viruses with relatively low similarity with pre-existing species of viruses within their families, named Pirizal iflavirus, Furrundu phlebovirus, Pixé phlebovirus, Guampa vesiculovirus, Chacororé flavivirus, Rasqueado orbivirus, Uru chuvirus, and Bororo circovirus. We also found the already described Lobeira dielmorhabdovirus, Sabethes flavivirus, Araticum partitivirus, and Murici totivirus. Therefore, these findings underscore the vast diversity of culicinae and novel viruses yet to be explored in Pantanal, the largest wetland on the planet.