Identification of novel mammalian viruses in tree shrews(Tupaia belangeri chinensis)

The Chinese tree shrew(Tupaia belangeri chinensis),a member of the mammalian order Scandentia,exhibits considerable similarities with primates,including humans,in aspects of its nervous,immune,and metabolic systems.These similarities have established the tree shrew as a promising experimental model for biomedical research on cancer,infectious diseases,metabolic disorders,and mental health conditions.Herein,we used metatranscriptomic sequencing to analyze plasma,as well as oral and anal swab samples,from 105 healthy asymptomatic tree shrews to identify the presence of potential zoonotic viruses.In total,eight mammalian viruses with complete genomes were identified,belonging to six viral families,including Flaviviridae,Hepeviridae,Parvovirinae,Picornaviridae,Sedoreoviridae,and Spinareoviridae.Notably,the presence of rotavirus was recorded in tree shrews for the first time.Three viruses-hepacivirus 1,parvovirus,and picornavirus-exhibited low genetic similarity(<70%)with previously reported viruses at the whole-genome scale,indicating novelty.Conversely,three other viruses-hepacivirus 2,hepatovirus A and hepevirus-exhibited high similarity(>94%)to known viral strains.Phylogenetic analyses also revealed that the rotavirus and mammalian orthoreovirus identified in this study may be novel reassortants.These findings provide insights into the diverse viral spectrum present in captive Chinese tree shrews,highlighting the necessity for further research into their potential for crossspecies transmission.

Positive Selection Analysis of VP1 Genes of Worldwide Human Enterovirus 71 Viruses

Human enterovirus 71 viruses have been long circulating throughout the world. In this study, we performed a positive selection analysis of the VP1 genes of capsid proteins from Enterovirus 71 viruses. Our results showed that although most sites were under negative or neutral evolution, four positions of the VP1 genes were under positive selection pressure. This might account for the spread and frequent outbreaks of the viruses and the enhanced neurovirulence. In particular, position 98 might be involved in neutralizing antibodies, modulating the virus-receptor interaction and enhancing the virulence of the viruses. Moreover, both positions 145 and 241 might correlate to determine the receptor specificity. However, these positions did not display much difference in amino acid polymorphism. In addition, no position in the VP1 genes of viruses isolated from China was under positive selection.

Murine model of acute myocarditis and cerebral cortical neuron edema induced by coxsackievirus B4

Globally, coxsackievirus B4 （CV-B4） has been continuously isolated and evidence suggests an association with the development of pancreatitis and type I diabetes. In addition, CV-B4 is also associated with myocarditis and severe central nervous system （CNS） complications, which remain poorly studied and understood. In the present study, we established an institute for Cancer Research （ICR） mouse model of CV-B4 infection and examined whether CV-B4 infection resulted in a predisposition to myocarditis and CNS infection. We found high survival in both the treatment and control group, with no significant differences in clinical outcomes observed. However, pathological lesions were evident in both brain and heart tissue of the CV-B4-infected mice. in addition, high viral loads were found in the neural and cardiac tissues as early as 2 days post infection. Expressions of IFN-y and IL-6 in sera were significantly higher in CV-B4-infected mice compared to uninfected negative controls, suggesting the involvement of these cytokines in the development of histopathological lesions. Our murine model successfully reproduced the acute myocarditis and cerebral cortical neuron edema induced by CV-B4, and may be useful for the evaluation of vaccine candidates and potential antivirals against CV-B4 infection.

Selection Pressure on Haemagglutinin Genes of H9N2 Influenza Viruses from Different Hosts

Positive selection and differential selective pressure analyses were carried out to study Haemagglutinin (HA) genes of H9N2 influenza viruses from different hosts in this paper. Results showed that, although most positions in HAs were under neutral or purifying evolution, a few positions located in the antigenic regions and receptor binding sites were subject to positive selection and some of them were even positively selected at the population level. In addition, there were always some positions differentially selected for viruses from different hosts. Both selection pressure working on HA codons and positions differentially selected might account for the extension of the host range and adaptations to different hosts of H9N2 influenza viruses.

Proteotyping:A New Approach Studying Influenza Virus Evolution at the Protein Level

Phylogenetic methods have been widely used to detect the evolution of influenza viruses.However,previous phylogenetic studies of influenza viruses do not make full use of the genetic information at the protein level and therefore cannot distinguish the subtle differences among viral genes.Proteotyping is a new approach to study influenza virus evolution.It aimed at mining the potential genetic information of the viral gene at the protein level by visualizing unique amino acid signatures(proteotypes).Neuraminidase gene fragments of some H5N1 avian influenza viruses were used as an example to illustrate how the proteotyping method worked.Bayesian analysis confirmed that the NA gene tree was mainly divided into three lineages.The NA proteotype analysis further suggested there might be multiple proteotypes within these three lineages and even within single genotypes.At the same time,some proteotypes might even involve more than one genotype.In particular,it also discovered some amino acids of viruses of some genotypes might co-reassort.All these results proved this approach could provide additional information in contrast to results from standard phylogenetic tree analysis.

Novel astrovirus and paramyxovirus in Mongolian gerbils(Meriones unguiculatus)from China

DEAR EDITOR,Mongolian gerbils(Meriones unguiculatus)are small rodents belonging to the family Muridae and widely inhabit typical steppes and desert grasslands across northern China.Yet,few viruses in wild M.unguiculatus have been reported.Using meta-transcriptomic sequencing we identified two novel RNA viruses:an astrovirus,denoted Gerbil astrovirus(GeAstV).

Identification of a novel hepacivirus in Mongolian gerbil(Meriones unguiculatus)from Shaanxi,China

Dear Editor,Hepaciviruses,members of the family Flaviviridae,are enveloped viruses containing a single-stranded positive-sense RNA genome of approximately 8.9-10.5 kb in size(Simmonds et al.,2017).To date,15species(Hepacivirus A-N,and P)have been documented within the Hepacivirus genus that show distinct host ranges,including primates,bats,horses,donkeys,cows,and various rodents(Hartlage et al.,2016).