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Updated: Jun 22, 2026
05:44
Sand Fly (Phlebotomus papatasi) Embryo Microinjection for CRISPR/Cas9 Mutagenesis
Published on: November 17, 2020
Flavivirus RNA in phlebotomine sandflies
Gregory Moureau1, Laetitia Ninove, Arezki Izri
1Unité des Virus Emergents, UMR 190 Emergence des Pathologies Virales, Université de la Méditerranée & Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Marseille, France.
Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases (Larchmont, N.Y.)
|June 5, 2009
Summary
Insect-only flaviviruses were detected in sand flies for the first time, expanding our understanding of viral diversity beyond mosquitoes. This discovery in the family Psychodidae suggests a new group of viruses, termed phlebotomine-associated flaviviruses.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Entomology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Sandfly-transmitted phleboviruses are prevalent in the Mediterranean, causing human diseases.
- Previous research identified insect-only flaviviruses in mosquitoes, but other dipterans remained unscreened.
- Cell fusing agent virus is the first discovered member of a genetically diverse group of insect-only flaviviruses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the presence of flaviviruses, including insect-only types, in sand flies.
- To determine if flaviviruses exist in dipterans outside the Culicidae family.
Main Methods:
- Sand flies were collected in France and Algeria between August 2006 and July 2007.
- A broad-range PCR assay was used to detect flaviviruses in 1508 sand flies.
- Positive samples were sequenced to determine viral relationships.
Main Results:
- Two pools of male *Phlebotomus perniciosus* from Algeria tested positive for flaviviruses.
- The resulting sequences formed a distinct monophyletic group.
- These novel flaviviruses were more closely related to mosquito-associated insect-only flaviviruses than to other flavivirus groups.
Conclusions:
- This study reports the first detection of insect-only flaviviruses in sand flies (family Psychodidae).
- This finding expands the known hosts for insect-only flaviviruses beyond mosquitoes (family Culicidae).
- The newly identified viruses are proposed to be named phlebotomine-associated flaviviruses.
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