Chikungunya virus infection in Aedes aegypti is modulated by L-cysteine, taurine, hypotaurine and glutathione metabolism.

We report that CHIKV infection exerts oxidative stress in the A. aegypti, leading to oxidative damage and as a response, an elevated GST activity was observed. It was also observed that dietary L-cysteine treatment restricted CHIKV infection in A. aegypti mosquitoes. This L-cysteine mediated CHIKV inhibition was coincided by enhanced GST activity that further resulted in reduced oxidative damage during the infection. We also report that silencing of genes involved in synthesis of taurine and hypotaurine modulates CHIKV infection and redox biology of Aedes mosquitoes during the infection.