In vitro and in vivo host range of Anopheles gambiae densovirus (AgDNV)

AgDNV is a powerful gene transduction tool and potential biological control agent for Anopheles mosquitoes. Using a GFP reporter virus system, we investigated AgDNV host range specificity in four arthropod cell lines (derived from An. gambiae, Aedes albopictus and Drosophila melanogaster) and six mosquito species from 3 genera (An. gambiae, An. arabiensis, An. stephensi, Ae. albopictus, Ae. aegypti and Culex tarsalis). In vitro, efficient viral invasion, replication and GFP expression was only observed in MOS₅₅ An. gambiae cells. In vivo, high levels of GFP were observed in An. gambiae mosquitoes. Intermediate levels of GFP were observed in the closely related species An. arabiensis. Low levels of GFP were observed in An. stephensi, Ae. albopictus, Ae. aegypti and Cx. tarsalis. These results suggest that AgDNV is a specific gene transduction tool for members of the An. gambiae species complex, and could be potentially developed into a biocontrol agent with minimal off-target effects.