Pathogenicity of the Aedes albopictus Parvovirus (AaPV), a denso-like virus, for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

AaPV, a dense-like virus isolated from a C6/36 clone of the Aedes albopictus cell line, proved to be very pathogenic for Aedes aegypti first and third instar larvae following per os infection, The mortality reached 90% in 10 days for larvae infected at the first instar. Several factors, such as temperature, larval density and stage, and duration of contact with infectious particles, influenced infection, The virus titer in females surviving infection at the third larval instar reached 10(8) TCID50. Adult mosquitoes were sensitive to virus inoculation and to cytotransfection by viral DNA, Histological and ultrastructural studies revealed the presence of dense nuclei in almost all of the larval tissues with the exception of the midgut. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.