Insect Viruses

Production of high-value crops is often performed under protected cultivation. In recent years various spectral modifications have been made in greenhouse covers. Two of the main reasons to modify the spectral characteristics of greenhouse covers have been to suppress the proliferation of several foliar diseases and to protect crops from insects and insect-borne virus diseases of greenhouse-grown crops. These goals were achieved by complete or partial absorption of solar UV radiation, which interrupts the life cycle of several fungal pathogens and alters the visual behavior of many insects. Examples of these management strategies are described in this article.

Feral honey bee populations have been reported to be in decline due to the spread of Varroa destructor, an ectoparasitic mite that when left uncontrolled leads to virus build-up and colony death. While pests and diseases are known causes of large-scale managed honey bee colony losses, no studies to date have considered the wider pathogen burden in feral colonies, primarily due to the difficulty in locating and sampling colonies, which often nest in inaccessible locations such as church spires and tree tops. In addition, little is known about the provenance of feral colonies and whether they represent a reservoir of Varroa tolerant material that could be used in apiculture. Samples of forager bees were collected from paired feral and managed honey bee colonies and screened for the presence of ten honey bee pathogens and pests using qPCR. Prevalence and quantity was similar between the two groups for the majority of pathogens, however feral honey bees contained a significantly higher ...

Freshly deposited third instar Glossina morsitans centralis larvae were infected with the tsetse DNA virus by microinjection, and at emergence adult males were separated from the females and fed on rabbit blood every second day for 8 days. A control group treated with sterile saline were handled similarly. They were dissected, and comparative observations made on the appearance and size of the accessory reproductive glands (ARG) in infected and control males. Regularly fed 8-day-old males from infected and control groups were mated to 2-day-old normal females obtained from the insectay. After separation from copula, the females were dissected and the uteri examined for the presence and quality of the spermatophore. The spermathecae were also examined for insemination. ARG tissues from the control and virus infected regularly fed 8-day-old male flies were fixed and processed for electron microscopic studies. The ARGs from control flies were found to be milky in appearance, whereas those from virus-infected flies were transparent in most parts. The ARGs from virus-infected males were significantly smaller in diameters (F = 42.26, p < 0.0001) and shorter (F = 200.4, p < 0.0001) than those of the controls. Most of the virus-infected males failed to form a complete spermatophore, whereas almost all the controls formed complete spermatophore as observed in the uteri of the female mates (Χ2 = 111.661, p < 0.0001). The infected males that formed partial spermatophores and those that did not form any at all failed to inseminate their female mates. Histological studies of the ARGs revealed some lesions in the epithelial cells characterized by degeneration of cytoplasmic organelles and detachment of the muscle layer from the basal plasma membrane. However, no virus particles were observed in the affected cells.

We describe the metagenomics-derived feline enteric virome in the faeces of 25 cats from a single shelter in California. More than 90 % of the recognizable viral reads were related to mammalian viruses and the rest to bacterial viruses. Eight viral families were detected: Astroviridae, Coronaviridae, Parvoviridae, Circoviridae, Herpesviridae, Anelloviridae, Caliciviridae and Picobirnaviridae. Six previously known viruses were also identified: feline coronavirus type 1, felid herpes 1, feline calicivirus, feline norovirus, feline panleukopenia virus and picobirnavirus. Novel species of astroviruses and bocaviruses, and the first genome of a cyclovirus in a feline were characterized. The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase region from four highly divergent partial viral genomes in the order Picornavirales were sequenced. The detection of such a diverse collection of viruses shed within a single shelter suggested that such animals experience robust viral exposures. This study increases our un...

Guards of Cyprian honey bee colonies, Apis mellifera cypria, display a great defensive behaviour against hornets&#x27; attacks. The deformed wing virus (DWV) and the kakugo virus (KV) genomes are very similar, but unlike KV, the presence of DWV is not related to honey bees&#x27; aggressiveness. This discrepancy is further discussed.

The sensitivity of Invertebrate iridescent virus 6 (IIV-6) to a selection of organic solvents, detergents, enzymes and heat treatment was assayed in Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cells and by injection of inoculum into larvae of Galleria mellonella. In several cases, the degree of sensitivity of the virus depended on the method of assay; cell culture assays indicated greater losses of activity than insect bioassay. IIV-6 was sensitive to chloroform but sensitivity to ether was only detected by cell culture assay. Sensitivity (defined as a reduction of at least 1 log activity) was detected following treatment by 1 and 0.1% SDS, 1% Triton-X100, 70% ethanol, 70% methanol, 1% sodium deoxycholate, pH 11.1 and 3.0. No sensitivity was detected to 1% Tween 80, 1 M MgCl2, 100 mM EDTA, lipase, phospholipase A2, proteinase K, or trypsin at the concentrations tested. Viral activity was reduced by approximately 4 logs following heating to 70 degrees C for 60 min or 80 degrees C for 30 min. The above observations highlight the need for studies on the role of the virus lipid component in the process of particle entry into cells, and may explain why vertebrate and invertebrate iridoviruses have been reported to differ in their sensitivity to organic solvents and enzymes.

The health of the honeybee and, indirectly, global crop production are threatened by several biotic and abiotic factors, which play a poorly defined role in the induction of widespread colony losses. Recent descriptive studies suggest that colony losses are often related to the interaction between pathogens and other stress factors, including parasites. Through an integrated analysis of the population and

Deformed wing virus (DWV) is a viral pathogen of the European honeybee (Apis mellifera), associated with clinical symptoms and colony collapse when transmitted by the ectoparasitic miteVarroa destructor. In the absence ofV. destructor, DWV infection does not result in visible symptoms, suggesting that mite-independent transmission results in covert infections. True covert infections are a known infection strategy for insect viruses, resulting in long-term persistence of the virus in the population. They are characterized by the absence of disease symptoms in the presence of the virus and by vertical transmission of the virus. To demonstrate vertical transmission and, hence, true covert infections for DWV, a detailed study was performed on the vertical-transmission routes of DWV. In total, 192 unfertilized eggs originating from eight virgin queens, and the same number of fertilized eggs from the same queens after artificial insemination with DWV-negative (three queens) or DWV-positiv...

The 3.0 A resolution crystal structure of Pariacoto virus (PaV) reveals extensive interactions between portions of the viral RNA genome and the icosahedral capsid. Under the protein shell of the T = 3 quasi equivalent capsid lies a dodecahedral cage composed of RNA duplex that accounts for approximately 35% of the single-stranded RNA genome. The highly basic N-terminal regions (residues 7-54) of the subunits, forming pentamers (A subunits) are clearly visible in the density map and make numerous interactions with the RNA cage. The C-terminal segments (residues 394-401) of the A subunits lie in channels near the quasi three-fold axes. Electron cryo-microscopy and image reconstruction of PaV particles clearly show the dodecahedral RNA cage.

Deformed wing virus (DWV) is a honeybee viral pathogen either persisting as an inapparent infection or resulting in wing deformity. The occurrence of deformity is associated with the transmission of DWV through Varroa destructor during pupal stages. Such infections with DWV add to the pathology of V. destructor and play a major role in colony collapse in the course of varroosis. Using a recently developed RT-PCR protocol for the detection of DWV, individual bees and mites originating from hives differing in Varroa infestation levels and the occurrence of crippled bees were analysed. It was found that 100 % of both crippled and asymptomatic bees were positive for DWV. However, a significant difference in the spatial distribution of DWV between asymptomatic and crippled bees could be demonstrated: when analysing head, thorax and abdomen of crippled bees, all body parts were always strongly positive for viral sequences. In contrast, for asymptomatic bees viral sequences could be detect...

By providing pollination services, bees are among the most important insects, both in ecological and economical terms. Combined next-generation and classical sequencing approaches were applied to discover and study new insect viruses potentially harmful to bees. A bioinformatics virus discovery pipeline was used on individual Illumina transcriptomes of 13 wild bees from three species from the genus Halictus and 30 ants from six species of the genera Messor and Aphaenogaster. This allowed the discovery and description of three sequences of a new virus termed Halictus scabiosae Adlikon virus (HsAV). Phylogenetic analyses of ORF1, RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase (RdRp) and capsid genes showed that HsAV is closely related to (+)ssRNA viruses of the unassigned Sinaivirus genus but distant enough to belong to a different new genus we called Halictivirus. In addition, our study of ant transcriptomes revealed the first four sinaivirus sequences from ants (Messor barbarus, M. capitatus and M. c...