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Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity

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Student Competition

Undergrad Poster Competition: SysEB, Evolution, Phylogenetics, and Systematics

D3228: Houston mosquito-transmitted viruses identified by metagenomics

Monday, November 11, 2024
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM MST
Location: Phoenix Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 6, PCC
Poster Display Student Competition
Mosquitos can carry and transmit viruses, some disease-causing and many more that  have never been detected. Viruses have mainly been identified through culturing, but less than 1% of microbes (such as viruses) are culturable. Metagenomics, however, allows us to extract and categorize viral DNA  directly from environmental samples. Mosquitos caught in the Houston area using CO2 traps were separated by species and sex. DNA and RNA were extracted from pooled samples for each species and sex. PCR using the COI gene to verify sample species was conducted with DNA. RT-PCR of RNA samples were converted to cDNA. The obtained DNA and cDNA were sequenced using MiSeq Illumina sequencing. A BLAST workflow was used to batch-upload sequences and identify viruses using comparison to a library of known sequences. For 3 years, our DNA extractions have yielded low DNA concentrations and poor purity, not allowing us to proceed with the sequencing steps. Recently, the issue has been resolved by utilizing a new brand of DNA extraction kit. Previous studies have identified 51 different species of viruses from female Aedes aegypti mosquitos and 40 different species from male A. aegypti mosquitos. Thousands of previously unknown viral sequences were obtained as well. Currently, we are extracting Culex and Anopheles mosquitos which will be sequenced and analyzed by BLAST for  species specific viral sequence and geographic comparisons.