Population genomics in the arboviral vector Aedes aegypti reveals the genomic architecture and evolution of endogenous viral elements

Cristina M. Crava, Finny S. Varghese, Elisa Pischedda, Rebecca Halbach, Umberto Palatini, Michele Marconcini, Leila Gasmi, Seth Redmond, Yaw Afrane, Diego Ayala, Christophe Paupy, Rebeca Carballar-Lejarazu, Pascal Miesen, Ronald P. van Rij, Mariangela Bonizzoni

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Horizontal gene transfer from viruses to eukaryotic cells is a pervasive phenomenon. Somatic viral integrations are linked to persistent viral infection whereas integrations into germline cells are maintained in host genomes by vertical transmission and may be co-opted for host functions. In the arboviral vector Aedes aegypti, an endogenous viral element from a nonretroviral RNA virus (nrEVE) was shown to produce PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) to limit infection with a cognate virus. Thus, nrEVEs may constitute a heritable, sequence-specific mechanism for antiviral immunity, analogous to piRNA-mediated silencing of transposable elements. Here, we combine population genomics and evolutionary approaches to analyse the genomic architecture of nrEVEs in A. aegypti. We conducted a genome-wide screen for adaptive nrEVEs and searched for novel population-specific nrEVEs in the genomes of 80 individual wild-caught mosquitoes from five geographical populations. We show a dynamic landscape of nrEVEs in mosquito genomes and identified five novel nrEVEs derived from two currently circulating viruses, providing evidence of the environmental-dependent modification of a piRNA cluster. Overall, our results show that virus endogenization events are complex with only a few nrEVEs contributing to adaptive evolution in A. aegypti.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1594-1611
Number of pages18
JournalMolecular Ecology
Volume30
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2021

Keywords

  • Aedes aegypti
  • endogenous viral elements
  • mosquito genomes
  • piRNA cluster

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Population genomics in the arboviral vector Aedes aegypti reveals the genomic architecture and evolution of endogenous viral elements'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this