A novel hantavirus identified in bats (Carollia perspicillata) in Brazil

Hantavirus is a type of virus that has emerged and brought awareness to public health problems in the last few decades. In humans, Hantavirus (HV) infection can result in two significant clinical syndromes: Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS) and Hantavirus Cardiopulmonary Syndrome (HCPS). HFRS, characterized by fever, bleeding, and renal complications, occurs primarily in Asian countries, whereas HCPS is more prevalent in the Americas and is associated with severe respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms that often lead to critical illness. This study aims to identify a partial genome associated with Hantavirus in samples collected from neotropical bats. This metagenomic study used bat samples (Carollia perspicillata) in Maranhão, Brazil. The result showed that after bioinformatic analysis, a contig of 6291 nucleotides (nt) has been recovered, which encodes a protein comprising 2096 amino acids (aa). The 5’ and 3’ ends are missing in this genome. The BlastX results showed 99% query coverage and 73.21% identity with Dakrong virus (GenBankID: MG663536), corresponding to segment L, which encodes RNA polymerase. This novel sequence has been named Buritiense virus, clustering within the Mobatvirus clade. This study is a viral metagenomic analysis for virological surveillance purposes, making it important to investigate whether there are sequences related to viral families that responsible for human diseases.
(DKW)

Developments in Negative-Strand RNA Virus Reverse Genetics

Negative stranded RNA viruses are often responsible for epidemics with high morbidity, it threatened human life and livestock production, resulting economic loss. These viruses are grouped as non-segmented families: Rhabdoviridae, Paramyxovridae, Filoviridae and Bornaviridae and segmented negative stranded families: Peribunyaviridae and Orthomyxoviridae. Negative-single stranded RNA viruses replicate within cytoplasm (and nucleus) and genome replication is dependent on protein synthesis. Reverse genetic technology was firstly established for DNA viruses. To date, reverse genetics for negative single-stranded RNA viruses are widely developed, through converting RNA into cDNA to study RNA at the DNA level. A helper plasmid, that is rescued from positive-stranded RNA was used to help negative single-stranded virus replicate after cloned. For Orthomyxoviridae family (IVA) and Filoviridae family (EBOV), reverse genetic system was well-developed, comparing to another single stranded negative RNA virus: Paramyxoviridae family (PPRV). In PPRV, there is low efficiency for rescuing PPRV and not stable enough for use in research. Overall, reverse genetic systems is suitable for studying negative-stranded RNA viruses’ structure and viral genome function at the protein level, to analyze the gene expression and its pathogenesis. Moreover, it can be used for new vaccines, antiviral drugs, and control of negative-stranded RNA viruses’ development.
(INV)

A high-throughput, polymerase-targeted RT-PCR for broad detection of mammalian filoviruses

Hemorrhagic fever caused by filoviruses is a highly lethal and dangerous infectious disease that can be spread from person to person. Outbreaks of filoviruses have occurred in Africa, with occasional secondary cases reported in several countries. To predict cross-species transmission of filoviruses, they established an RT-PCR assay that can detect a wide range of mammalian filoviruses with high sensitivity. This assay targets the L-protein region of the virus and can identify more than 99% of the currently identified mammalian filovirus sequences. In fact, they detected 10 different filoviruses with analytical sensitivity as high as 178-3,354 copies/ml. Furthermore, it is possible to detect other virus families from the same sample by performing RT-PCR in two steps. The results may be useful for predicting and combating outbreaks of filoviruses.
(SM)

Virus taxonomy: the database of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV)

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) was established in 1966. ICTV classifies viruses according to the type of host they infect (animal, plants, fungi and protists, or bacteria and archaea) and the molecular makeup of their genome (DNA, RNA, double or single stranded and translation polarity). ICTV is responsible not only for determining virus classification, but also for disseminating these decisions to scientific community. ICTV maintains a database that stores virus classifications, taxonomy names, and related metadata, including information on representative viruses of each nomenclature, which provides a complete description of all defined virus taxonomies. No other database or resource provides a comprehensive, fully annotated collection of information on virus classification.
(TT)