Mosquitoes are the most important vectors for arthropod-borne viral diseases. Mixed viral infections of mosquitoes allow genetic recombination or reassortment of diverse viruses, turning mosquitoes into potential virologic mixing bowls. In this study, we field-collected mosquitoes of different species (Aedes aegypti and Culex pipiens complex), from different geographic locations and environments (central Europe and the Caribbean) for highly sensitive next-generation sequencing-based virome characterization. We found a rich virus community associated with a great diversity of host species. Among those, we detected a large diversity of novel virus sequences that we could predominately assign to circular Rep-encoding single-stranded (CRESS) DNA viruses, including the full-length genome of a yet undescribed Gemykrogvirus species. Moreover, we report for the first time the detection of a potentially zoonotic CRESS-DNA virus (Cyclovirus VN) in mosquito vectors. This study expands the knowledge on virus diversity in medically important mosquito vectors, especially for CRESS-DNA viruses that have previously been shown to easily recombine and jump the species barrier.
Keywords: BatCV; CRESS-DNA viruses; CyCV-VN; ISV; insect-specific viruses; mosquito virome.