RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Lourenço-de-Oliveira, Ricardo A1 Marques, João T. A1 Sreenu, Vattipally B. A1 Atyame Nten, Célestine A1 Aguiar, Eric Roberto Guimarães Rocha A1 Varjak, Margus A1 Kohl, Alain A1 Failloux, Anna-BellaYR 2018 T1 Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes do not support replication of Zika virus JF Journal of General Virology, VO 99 IS 2 SP 258 OP 264 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.000949 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2099, AB The rapid spread of Zika virus (ZIKV) in the Americas raised many questions about the role of Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes in transmission, in addition to the key role played by the vector Aedes aegypti. Here we analysed the competence of Cx. quinquefasciatus (with or without Wolbachia endosymbionts) for a ZIKV isolate. We also examined the induction of RNA interference pathways after viral challenge and the production of small virus-derived RNAs. We did not observe any infection nor such small virus-derived RNAs, regardless of the presence or absence of Wolbachia. Thus, Cx. quinquefasciatus does not support ZIKV replication and Wolbachia is not involved in producing this phenotype. In short, these mosquitoes are very unlikely to play a role in transmission of ZIKV., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/jgv.0.000949