Evaluation of two artificial infection methods of live ticks as tools for studying interactions between tick-borne viruses and their tick vectors

Camille Victoire Migné (1, 2) , Vaclav Hönig (3, 4) , Sarah Irène Bonnet (1) , Martin Palus (3, 4) , Sabine Rakotobe (1) , Clémence Galon (1) , Aurélie Heckmann (1) , Eva Vyletova (3, 5) , Elodie Devillers (1) , Houssam Attoui (2) , Daniel Ruzek (3, 4) , Sara Moutailler (1)

1 BIPAR - Biologie moléculaire et immunologie parasitaires et fongiques
2 VIRO - Virologie UMR1161
3 BIOLOGY CENTRE CAS - Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences
4 VRI - Veterinary Research Institute [Brno]
5 University of South Bohemia

Up to 170 tick-borne viruses (TBVs) have been identified to date. However, there is a paucity of information regarding TBVs and their interaction with respective vectors, limiting the development of new effective and urgently needed control methods. To overcome this gap of knowledge, it is essential to reproduce transmission cycles under controlled laboratory conditions. In this study we assessed an artificial feeding system (AFS) and an immersion technique (IT) to infect Ixodes ricinus ticks with tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and Kemerovo (KEM) virus, both known to be transmitted predominantly by ixodid ticks. Both methods permitted TBEV acquisition by ticks and we further confirmed virus trans-stadial transmission and onward transmission to a vertebrate host. However, only artificial feeding system allowed to demonstrate both acquisition by ticks and trans-stadial transmission for KEMV. Yet we did not observe transmission of KEMV to mice (IFNAR−/− or BALB/c). Artificial infection methods of ticks are important tools to study tick-virus interactions. When optimally used under laboratory settings, they provide important insights into tick-borne virus transmission cycles.

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Camille Victoire Migné, Vaclav Hönig, Sarah Irène Bonnet, Martin Palus, Sabine Rakotobe, et al.. Evaluation of two artificial infection methods of live ticks as tools for studying interactions between tick-borne viruses and their tick vectors. Scientific Reports, 2022, 12, pp.491. ⟨10.1038/s41598-021-04498-9⟩. ⟨hal-04008666⟩