Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Elicits Early Transcriptome Response in Culicoides sonorensis Cells

Viruses that are transmitted by arthropods, or arboviruses, have evolved to successfully navigate both the invertebrate and vertebrate hosts, including their immune systems. Biting midges transmit several arboviruses including vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). To study the interaction between VSV and midges, we characterized the transcriptomic responses of VSV-infected and mock-infected cells at 1, 8, 24, and 96 h post inoculation (HPI). The transcriptomic response of VSV-infected cells at 1 HPI was significant, but by 8 HPI there were no detectable differences between the transcriptome profiles of VSV-infected and mock-infected cells. Several genes involved in immunity were upregulated ( and ) or downregulated ( and ) in VSV-treated cells at 1 HPI. These results indicate that VSV infection in midge cells produces an early immune response that quickly wanes, giving insight into in vivo VSV tolerance that may underlie their permissiveness as vectors for this virus.