{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]],"date-time":"2026-02-26T06:35:09Z","timestamp":1772087709126,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,24]],"date-time":"2026-02-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771891200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent of Chagas disease, a neglected tropical disease that mostly affects the population of Latin American countries, with an estimated 7 million infected people and more than 10,000 deaths per year worldwide. T. cruzi is typically transmitted by hematophagous triatomine insects, with Rhodnius prolixus being a major insect vector in South America. While the microbiome of triatomine insects has been investigated to a certain extent, the ternary interaction between triatomes insects, T. cruzi, and viruses remains virtually unexplored. In this study, we show by transmission electron microscopy and by RT-PCR that Rhodnius prolixus viruses (RpVs) can infect the intestine of R. prolixus, which places them in close contact with the gut microbiota. These observations suggest that T. cruzi can be infected by the insect viruses while transiting through the gut. Here, we show that the RpVs are capable of infecting the epimastigote forms of T. cruzi in vitro and maintain the viral load stabilized for 3 to 7 days after infection. We also show that, at least in the case of the iFlavirus RpV1, viral genomes are detectable in the T. cruzi cytoplasm. Interestingly, R. prolixus ovarian extracts enriched with RpVs decrease epimastigote proliferation and their capacity for differentiation into the ineffective metacyclic trypomastigotes in vitro. Our results start to shed light on the interaction between RpVs and T. cruzi, suggesting possible routes of infection and unveiling a role for viral infections in the development of this important pathogen.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v18030275","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,24]],"date-time":"2026-02-24T10:14:44Z","timestamp":1771928084000},"page":"275","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Rhodnius prolixus Viruses Interfere with Proliferation and Metacyclogenesis of the Chagas Disease Agent Trypanosoma cruzi"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8946-4113","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maira Arruda","family":"Cardoso","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Ci\u00eancias Biom\u00e9dicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3312-5171","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carolina Silva Dias","family":"Vieira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Bioqu\u00edmica, Instituto de Biologia (IBRAG), Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20551-030, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-3039-1953","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Isabel Cristina de Faria","family":"Moreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Bioqu\u00edmica, Instituto de Biologia (IBRAG), Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20551-030, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6744-3549","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francis Monique de Souza","family":"Saraiva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Bioqu\u00edmica, Instituto de Biologia (IBRAG), Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20551-030, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-7783-3162","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ingrid Alexandre de Abreu","family":"Brito","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Ci\u00eancias Biom\u00e9dicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3194-4453","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana Caroline P.","family":"Gandara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Bioqu\u00edmica M\u00e9dica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1352-0641","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rubem F. S.","family":"Menna-Barreto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Biologia Celular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0307-354X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pedro L.","family":"Oliveira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Bioqu\u00edmica M\u00e9dica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil"},{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2247-8251","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marcia Cristina","family":"Paes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Bioqu\u00edmica, Instituto de Biologia (IBRAG), Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20551-030, Brazil"},{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9642-8495","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Attilio","family":"Pane","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Ci\u00eancias Biom\u00e9dicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil"},{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"(2025, May 28). 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