Viromes of Haemaphysalis longicornis reveal different viral abundance and diversity in free and engorged ticks

Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks,commonly found in East Asia,can transmit various pathogenic viruses,includingthe severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus(SFTSV)that has caused febrile diseases among humansin Hubei Province.However,understanding of the viromes of H.longicornis was limited,and the prevalence ofviruses among H.longicornis ticks in Hubei was not well clarified.This study investigates the viromes of bothengorged(fed)and free(unfed)H.longicornis ticks across three mountainous regions in Hubei Province from 2019to 2020.RNA-sequencing analysis identified viral sequences that were related to 39 reference viruses belonging tounclassified viruses and seven RNA viral families,namely Chuviridae,Nairoviridae,Orthomyxoviridae,Parvoviridae,Phenuiviridae,Rhabdoviridae,and Totiviridae.Viral abundance and diversity in these ticks were analysed,andphylogenetic characteristics of the Henan tick virus(HNTV),Dabieshan tick virus(DBSTV),Okutama tick virus(OKTV),and Jingmen tick virus(JMTV)were elucidated based on their full genomic sequences.Prevalenceanalysis demonstrated that DBSTV was the most common virus found in individual H.longicornis ticks(12.59%),followed by HNTV(0.35%),whereas JMTV and OKTV were not detected.These results improve our understanding of H.longicornis tick viromes in central China and highlight the role of tick feeding status and geographyin shaping the viral community.The findings of new viral strains and their potential impact on public health raisethe need to strengthen surveillance efforts for comprehensively assessing their spillover potentials.

Isolation,characterization,and phylogenic analysis of three new severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome bunyavirus strains derived from Hubei Province,China

Hubei Province is a major epidemic area of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome bunyavirus(SFTSV) in China. However, to date, a few SFTSV strains have been isolated from Hubei Province, preventing effective studies of epidemic outbreaks. Here, we report three confirmed patients(2015–2016) with typical symptoms of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome disease(SFTS) who were farmers resident in different regions in Hubei Province. Three new SFTSV strains were isolated from the serum samples of each patient. Characterization of viral growth properties showed that there were no significant differences in virus production. All strains were completely sequenced, and phylogenetic analysis showed that unlike the other strains from Hubei province, which belonged to the SFTSV C3 genotype, one of the three strains belonged to the SFTSV C2 genotype. These results suggested that multiple SFTSV genotypes have been circulating in Hubei Province, providing insights into SFTSV evolution and improving our understanding of SFTSV prevalence in Hubei Province.

Isolation,Characterization,and Phylogenetic Analysis of Two New Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Strains from the Northern Region of Xinjiang Province,China

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever(CCHF)caused by the CCHF virus(CCHFV)is a tick-borne natural focal disease with a mortality rate of approximately 50%.CCHFV is widely prevalent in Africa,southern Asia,the Middle East,and southeast Europe.CCHF outbreaks have been reported previously in Xinjiang province,China,especially in its southern region.Epidemiological surveys conducted on ticks and animals have revealed the presence of CCHFV strains in ticks,rodents,and infected individuals from cities and counties in southern Xinjiang.Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the Chinese CCHFV strains belong to one genotype,based on complete sequences of the S segments of its negative-stranded RNA genome.The present study reports two new CCHFV strains isolated from Hyalomma asiaticum asiaticum ticks collected from Fukang City and Wujiaqu City in the northern region of Xinjiang.Viral characteristics and their evolutionary relationships were analyzed through metagenomic and reverse-transcription PCR analyses;these analyses indicated that the genotype of both strains was different from that of other Chinese strains.Furthermore,previous reports of CCHFV in Xinjiang were reviewed and phylogenetic analyses were performed.CCHFV was found to prevail in Fukang City in Junggar Basin for more than 20 years,and that Fukang City and Wujiaqu City are considered natural reservoirs of different genotypes of CCHFV strains.Our findings facilitate the understanding of CCHFV distribution in Xinjiang province and provide insights into the evolutionary relationships among Chinese CCHFV strains.

A new strain of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus isolated from Xinjiang, China

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus(CCHFV) is a highly pathogenic tick-borne virus with a fatality rate of up to 50% in humans. CCHFV is widely distributed in countries around the world.Outbreaks of CCHFV infection in humans have occurred in prior years in Xinjiang Province, China.Epidemiological surveys have detected CCHFV RNA in ticks and animals; however, few isolates were identified. In this study, we identified and isolated a new CCHFV strain from Hyalomma asiaticum asiaticum ticks collected from north of Tarim Basin in Xinjiang, China. A preliminary investigation of infection and antigens expression of CCHFV was performed in newborn mice. The target tissues for CCHFV replication in newborn mice were identified. The analysis of the phylogenetic relationships with other Chinese strains suggested that diverse genotypes of CCHFV have circulated in Xinjiang for years. These findings provide important insights into our understanding of CCHFV infection and evolution as well as disease prevention and control for local residents.

Novel SFTSV Phylogeny Reveals New Reassortment Events and Migration Routes

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus(SFTSV),the causative agent of a febrile human disease,was first identified from central and eastern provinces in China,and later in Japan and South Korea.Hubei Province is one of the major SFTS epidemic areas in the central part of China.This study reported the isolation of 11 new SFTSV strains from patients in Hubei Province collected in 2017.Extensive phylogenetic analyses were conducted based on the complete coding sequences of SFTSV segments including the new strains.It was suggested that five different SFTSV genotypes were circulating in Hubei,and 15 reassortment patterns and migration pathways correlated with each genotype were identified,which was more than previously recognized.Hubei Province was more involved in the evolutionary events of SFTSV than that previously thought in which the evolutionary events of SFTSV were reported to be independent from those in other epidemic regions.Further divergence of SFTSV strains was suggested by pairwise comparison of SFTSV sequences from each genotype and sequence identity normalized to representative strain in genotype C1.Subsequently,amino acid variations specific for genotype(s),strain(s),or cluster(s)were inspected,which may be related to differential biological activity of SFTSV strains/genotypes.In conclusion,we analyzed the current status of SFTSV phylogeny in Hubei Province and discussed the possible events correlated to SFTSV evolution.It provided an in-depth insight into SFTSV evolution,raising concerns for the use of proper SFTSV strains in future studies.

Extensive evolution analysis of the global chikungunya virus strains revealed the origination of CHIKV epidemics in Pakistan in 2016

Chikungunya virus(CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne virus that causes epidemics widely in the world especially in the tropical and subtropical regions. Phylogenetic analysis has found that the CHIKV lineages were associated with the spatial and temporal distributions, which were related to the virus adaption to the major mosquito species and their distributions. In this study, we reported the complete genome sequences of eight CHIKV isolates from the outbreak in Pakistan last year. Then we reviewed the evolutionary history using extensive phylogenetic analysis, analyzed lineagespecific substitutions in viral proteins, and characterized the spreading pathway of CHIKV strains including the Pakistani strains. The results showed that the Pakistani stains belonged to the ECSA.IOL sub-lineage and derived from India. The genetic properties of the Pakistani strains including the adaptive substitution to vectors were further characterized, and the potential risks from the occurrence of CHIKV infection in Pakistan were discussed. These results provided better understanding of CHIKV evolution and transmission in the world and revealed the possible origination of the CHIKV outbreak and epidemic in Pakistan, which would promote the disease prevention and control in the identified countries and territories with the history of CHIKV infections as well as new regions with potential risk of CHIKV outbreaks.

Ozone Water Is an Effective Disinfectant for SARS-CoV-2

Dear Editor,The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-Co V-2)is the causative pathogen of the pandemic coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19),which has infected nearly 90 million people and resulted in 2 million human deaths by the end of the year 2020.SARS-Co V-2 can survive in aerosols or on the surfaces of various materials for up to 72 h(Ong et al.2020;van Doremalen et al.2020).In China,although the human-to-human transmission pathway is under well control,the fomite transmission pathway now accounts for a significant fraction of new infection cases.Therefore,environmental disinfection of public areas and workspaces potentially contaminated by SARS-Co V-2 is an important measure to control the spread of COVID-19 by fomite transmission.A disinfectant that is safe and readily available at a low cost is urgently needed to meet environmental disinfection requirements.

Experimental and modeling study of CO_(2)-Improved gas recovery in gas condensate reservoir

This paper presents the effectiveness of the CO_(2) injection process at different periods during gascondensate reservoir development.Taking a real gas-condensate reservoir located in China's east region as an example,first,we conducted experiments of constant composition expansion(CCE),constant volume depletion(CVD),saturation pressure determination,and single flash.Next,a series of water/CO2 flooding experiments were been investigated,including water flooding at present pressure 15 MPa,CO_(2) flooding at 25.53 MPa,15 MPa,which repents initial pressure and present pressure respectively.Finally,the core flooding numerical model was constructed using a generalized equation-of-state model reservoir simulator(GEM)to reveal miscible flooding mechanism and the seepage flow characteristics in the condensate gas reservoir with CO2 injection.A desirable agreement achieved in experimental results and predicted pressure volume temperature(PVT)properties by the modified equation of state(EOS)in the CVD and CCE tests indicated that the proposed recombination method can successfully produce a fluid with the same phase behavior of initial reservoir fluid with an acceptable accuracy.The modeling results confirm the experimental results,and both methods indicate that significant productivity loss can occur in retrograde gas condensate reservoirs when the flowing bottom-hole pressure falls below dew point pressure.Moreover,the results show that CO_(2) treatment can improve gas productivity by a factor of about 1.39 compared with the water flooding mode.These results may help reservoir engineers and specialists to restore the lost productivity of gas condensate.

Mechanisms of prostate carcinogenesis and its prevention by a γ-tocopherolrich mixture of tocopherols in TRAMP mice

Tocopherols belong to a subgroup of the vitamin E family. Dietary feeding of a γ-tocopherol-rich mixture of tocopherols(γ-Tm T) inhibits prostate tumorigenesis in TRAMP mice. In this study, we aimed to investigate mechanisms of prostate carcinogenesis in TRAMP mice by identifying differentially expressed pathways and effects of γ-Tm T on these pathways. Eight-week-old TRAMP and age-matched C57BL/6 mice were administered either 600 mg/kg of γ-Tm T or a control vehicle via oral gavage. Twelve hours after dosing, prostate tissues were collected for RNA extraction. Whole genome mouse microarrays were used to examine gene expression profiles. The expression of the selected genes were validated using quantitative PCR. Thousands of genes and various pathways were altered in the prostates of TRAMP mice. Compared to C57BL/6 mice, TRAMP mice exhibited enhanced proliferation, suppressed expression of antioxidant and phase II detoxification enzymes, and metabolic reprogramming in the prostate. γ-Tm T differentially regulated the gene expression profiles of TRAMP and C57BL/6 mice, with only a small percentage of genes overlapping. γ-Tm T inhibited genes involved in proliferation and glucose metabolism and induced several antioxidant/phase II detoxification genes in TRAMP mice. γ-Tm T modulates multiple aberrant pathways in the prostate of TRAMP mice, which might represent important mechanisms for prostate cancer prevention.

RNA viromes of Dermacentor nuttalli ticks reveal a novel uukuvirus in Qinghai Province,China

Ticks are a major parasite on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,western China,and represent an economic burden to agriculture and animal husbandry.Despite research on tick-borne pathogens that threaten humans and animals,the viromes of dominant tick species in this area remain unknown.In this study,we collected Dermacentor nuttalli ticks near Qinghai Lake and identified 13 viruses belonging to at least six families through metagenomic sequencing.Four viruses were of high abundance in pools,including Xınjiang tick-associated virus 1(XJTAV1),and three novel viruses:Qinghai Lake virus 1,Qinghai Lake virus 2(QHLV1,and QHLV2,unclassified),and Qinghai Lake virus 3(QHLV3,genus Uukuvirus of family Phenuiviridae in order Bunyavirales),which lacks the M segment.The minimum infection rates of the four viruses in the tick groups were 8.2%,49.5%,6.2%,and 24.7%,respectively,suggesting the prevalence of these viruses in D.nuttalli ticks.A putative M segment of QHLV3 was identified from the next-generation sequencing data and further characterized for its signal peptide cleavage site,N-glycosylation,and transmembrane region.Furthermore,we probed the L,M,and S segments of other viruses from sequencing data of other tick pools by using the putative M segment sequence of QHLV3.By revealing the viromes of D.nuttalli ticks,this study enhances our understanding of tick-borne viral communities in highland regions.The putative M segment identified in a novel uukuvirus suggests that previously identified uukuviruses without M segments should have had the same genome organization as typical bunyaviruses.These findings will facilitate virus discovery and our understanding of the phylogeny of tick-borne uukuviruses.