What makes phleboviruses tick? Examining the molecular interactions of tick-borne phleboviruses with their arthropod vector.

There is a fundamental lack of understanding regarding how tick-borne viruses replicate in ticks and how the tick innate immune system controls infection. My proposal will focus on tick-borne SFTS phlebovirus, its overarching goals are to understand how tick-borne viruses interact with ticks and tick cells and how this facilitates transmission to mammalian hosts. To achieve my goals, I will carry out in vitro and in vivo studies that can be divided into three specific aims: (i) to elucidate the basic molecular biology of tick-borne virus replication, (ii) to define the innate immune factors that control virus replication in the tick cell environment and (iii) to examine whether virions derived from tick or mammalian cells have similar biological properties and virulence? I will conduct in vitro experiments in tick cell lines to examine virus-vector interactions. Importantly, I will also establish unique tick colonies and infection capabilities for the UK. Through combined cell culture approaches and in vivo animal experiments I will investigate the replication of phleboviruses in the live tick for the first time. I will also explore the infectivity of virions derived from different sources and assess if tick-derived viruses are more virulent to mammals in animal inoculation studies.