Rennos Fragkoudis

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is a major vector of chikungunya virus (CHIKV), which has no licensed vaccine. Engineered mosquitoes expressing long RNA hairpins (lhRNA) or small RNAs against selected arboviruses have been developed to limit virus replication, but their silencing efficiency has not been compared. We developed lhRNA and short hairpin RNA (shRNA) arrays against CHIKV non-structural protein nsP2.

Abstract The ability to control gene expression is pivotal in genetic engineering and synthetic biology. However, in most non-model and pest insect species, empirical evidence for predictable modulation of gene expression levels is lacking. This knowledge gap is critical for genetic control systems, particularly in mosquitoes, where transgenic methods offer novel routes for pest control.

Virus-Cell Interactions Benjamin Götte, Age Utt, Rennos Fragkoudis, Andres Merits, Gerald M. McInerney Mark T. Heise, Editor DOI: 10.1128/JVI.01681-19 ABSTRACT We present a comprehensive overview of the dependency of several Old World alphaviruses for the host protein G3BP. Based on their replication ability in G3BP-deleted cells, Old World alphaviruses can be categorized into two groups, being either resistant or sensitive to G3BP deletion.