Identification of Neotropical Culex Mosquitoes by MALDI-TOF MS Profiling

Monique Melo Costa (1, 2, 3) , Amandine Guidez (4) , Sébastien Briolant (1, 2, 3) , Stanislas Talaga (4) , Jean Issaly (4) , Halima Naroua (5) , Romuald Carinci (4) , Pascal Gaborit (4) , Anne Lavergne (6) , Isabelle Dusfour (4) , Jean-Bernard Duchemin (4) , Lionel Almeras (1, 2, 3)

1 IRBA - Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées [Antenne Marseille]
2 VITROME - Vecteurs - Infections tropicales et méditerranéennes
3 IHU Marseille - Institut Hospitalier Universitaire Méditerranée Infection
4 Entomologie médicale
5 CERMES - Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire (Niamey, Niger)
6 Laboratoire des Interactions Virus-Hôtes [Cayenne, Guyane Française]

The mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) fauna of French Guiana encompasses 242 species, of which nearly half of them belong to the genus Culex. Whereas several species of Culex are important vectors of arboviruses, only a limited number of studies focus on them due to the difficulties to morphologically identify field-caught females. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been reported as a promising method for the identification of mosquitoes. Culex females collected in French Guiana were morphologically identified and dissected. Abdomens were used for molecular identification using the COI (cytochrome oxidase 1) gene. Legs and thorax of 169 specimens belonging to 13 Culex species, (i.e., Cx. declarator, Cx. nigripalpus, Cx. quinquefasciatus, Cx. usquatus, Cx. adamesi, Cx. dunni, Cx. eastor, Cx. idottus, Cx. pedroi, Cx. phlogistus, Cx. portesi, Cx. rabanicolus and Cx. spissipes) were then submitted to MALDI-TOF MS analysis. A high intra-species reproducibility and inter-species specificity of MS spectra for each mosquito body part tested were obtained. A corroboration of the specimen identification was revealed between MALDI-TOF MS, morphological and molecular results. MALDI-TOF MS protein profiling proves to be a suitable tool for identification of neotropical Culex species and will permit the enhancement of knowledge on this highly diverse genus.

Mots clés: Culex species; neotropical mosquito; French Guiana; MALDI-TOF MS; proteomic tool; arbovirus; monitoring

Domaines: Bactériologie; Cardiologie et système cardiovasculaire; Maladies émergentes; Maladies infectieuses; Parasitologie; Virologie

Monique Melo Costa, Amandine Guidez, Sébastien Briolant, Stanislas Talaga, Jean Issaly, et al.. Identification of Neotropical Culex Mosquitoes by MALDI-TOF MS Profiling. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, 2023, 8 (3), pp.168. ⟨10.3390/tropicalmed8030168⟩. ⟨hal-04115281⟩