ANIHWA call2: Can we predict emergence and spread of Culicoides-borne arboviruses in Europe according to genetic drivers

库蚊是目前欧洲家畜虫媒病毒最重要的生物媒介。蓝舌病毒(BTV)和施马伦堡病毒(SBV)的暴发通过临床疾病和实施动物贸易流动限制，继续对经济产生重大影响。最近在欧洲发现的至少三种库蚊传播的病毒具有未知的来源，因此，未来涉及已描述或未描述的库蚊传播病毒株或物种的疫情很有可能在未来发生。这些病毒可能包括已知的虫媒病毒的进一步入侵(包括库蚊的其他物种-邻近的病毒，如非洲马病或流行性出血性疾病病毒)或对家畜或人类具有未知致病性的未知物种。在这个项目中，我们将以前所未有的详细分析库蚊媒介-虫媒病毒在多个生态系统和物种中的关系，以提供对定义入侵和随后传播的风险有用的数据。使用新开发的方法对具有流行病学意义的库蚊病毒进行血液喂养，我们将评估与媒介能力相关的障碍，这些障碍可能是限制虫媒病毒在欧洲传播的基础。然后将使用基因组技术来探索决定库蚊媒介能力的基本遗传驱动因素，以确定影响这一过程的候选基因组。在鉴定之后，比较基因组学将在小组中确定特定物种的差异，这些小组将在北欧和南欧的生态系统中进行审查。此外，我们还将研究具有兽医重要性的欧洲库蚊病毒群，以此作为对媒介能力的潜在影响，并作为一种手段，了解如何利用种群中的病毒多样性来推断暴发风险。利用元基因组分析，我们将检查参与国库蚊种群中的病毒，这些病毒已经成为监测目的的有针对性抽样的对象。我们希望这将首次揭示库蚊体内存在的病毒的真正多样性，并开始解开它们在致病病毒传播的流行病学中的作用，为动物病毒媒介开辟一个新的研究领域。

Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are currently the most important biological vectors of livestock arboviruses in Europe. Outbreaks of bluetongue virus (BTV) and Schmallenberg virus (SBV) continue to have a significant economic impact through clinical disease and the imposition of animal trade movement restrictions. At least three Culicoides-borne viruses recently identified in Europe possess an unknown origin, hence future outbreaks involving described or undescribed strains or species of Culicoides-borne viruses have a high potential of occurring in the future. These viruses could include further incursions of known arboviruses (including additional species of Culicoides-bornearboviruses such as African horse sickness or Epizootic Haemorhagic Disease Virus) or as yet undescribed species with an unknown pathogenicity to livestock or humans.In this project we will dissect Culicoides vector-arbovirus relationships across multiple ecosystems and species and in unprecedented detail to provide data useful for both defining risk of incursion and subsequent spread. Using newly developed methods to blood-feed Culicoides viruses of epidemiological interest, we will assess barriers associated with vector competence that may underlie restrictions to arbovirus movement in Europe. The fundamental genetic drivers determining vector competence in Culicoides will then be explored using genomic techniques to identify panels of candidate genes influencing this process. Following identification, comparative genomics will identify species specific differences in panels which will be examined across ecosystems in Northern and Southern Europe. In addition, we will also examine the virome of EuropeanCulicoides of veterinary importance as a potential influence on vector competence and as a means of understanding how viral diversity within populations can be used to infer risk of outbreak. Using metagenomic analyses we will examine viromes from Culicoides populations across the participating countries that have already been the subject of targeted sampling for surveillance purposes. We expect this to reveal for the first time the true diversity of viruses present within Culicoides and to begin to untangle their role in the epidemiology of pathogenic virus transmission, opening a new field of research for animal virus vectors.