Parramatta River virus

Parramatta River virus
Virus classification
(unranked): Virus
Realm: Riboviria
Kingdom: Orthornavirae
Phylum: Kitrinoviricota
Class: Flasuviricetes
Order: Amarillovirales
Family: Flaviviridae
Genus: Flavivirus (?)
Virus:
Parramatta River virus

Parramatta River virus (PaRV) is an insect virus belonging to Flaviviridae and endemic to Australia. It was discovered in 2015.[1] The virus was identified from the mosquito Aedes vigilax collected from Sydney under the joint research project by scientists at the University of Queensland and the University of Sydney. In experimental infections, the virus is unable to grow in vertebrate cells, but only in Aedes-derived mosquito cell lines. This suggests that the virus does not infect vertebrates. The name is given because it was discovered from Silverwater, a suburb of Sydney on the southern bank of the Parramatta River. The mosquitoes from which the virus was isolated were actually collected in 2007, and had been preserved since then. The study commenced only after the development of the technique of viral detection in mosquitoes in the University of Queensland.[2]

The virus was identified as a result of investigation on the outbreak of Ross River virus in 2015. Both the viruses are transmitted by the same mosquitoes, but PaRV is not transmitted to humans, unlike RRV. According to one of the co-authors, Cameron Webb of the University of Sydney, this unique transmission of PaRV could hold a key "to vaccinate mosquitoes and stop their bites making thousands of Australians sick every summer."[3] The reason, explained by Jody Hobson-Peters of the University of Queensland, is that if mosquitoes (vectors for human diseases) are infected with the PaRV, then they will no longer be able to carry other human-infectious viruses.[4]

The virus was identified from the whole genome sequence using Sanger sequencing. The viral genome consists of 10,893 nucleotides and encodes a polyprotein of 3384 amino acids. Comparison with the genomes of other viruses showed that its closest relatives are the Mediterranean Ochlerotatus flavivirus (MoFV) isolated from Ochlerotatus mosquitoes in Spain, and the Hanko virus (HANKV) from Ochlerotatus mosquitoes in Finland (both identified in 2012[5][6]). With MoFV its shares 72.7% nucleotide identity, and with HANKV the nucleotide similarity is 71.4%.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 McLean, Breeanna J.; Hobson-Peters, Jody; Webb, Cameron E.; Watterson, Daniel; Prow, Natalie A.; Nguyen, Hong Duyen; Hall-Mendelin, Sonja; Warrilow, David; Johansen, Cheryl A.; Jansen, Cassie C.; van den Hurk, Andrew F.; Beebe, Nigel W.; Schnettler, Esther; Barnard, Ross T.; Hall, Roy A. (2015). "A novel insect-specific flavivirus replicates only in Aedes-derived cells and persists at high prevalence in wild Aedes vigilax populations in Sydney, Australia". Virology. 486: 272–283. doi:10.1016/j.virol.2015.07.021. PMID 26519596.
  2. ↑ Morris, Cathy (9 December 2015). "Scientists discover Parramatta River virus". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  3. ↑ "'Good' mozzie virus might hold key to fighting human disease". www.sciencedaily.com. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  4. ↑ Rigby, Mark; Staley, Phil (18 November 2015). "'Good' mosquito virus could be key to eradicating mosquito-borne diseases in humans". Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  5. ↑ Vázquez, Ana; Sánchez-Seco, María-Paz; Palacios, Gustavo; Molero, Francisca; Reyes, Noelia; Ruiz, Santiago; Aranda, Carles; Marqués, Eduard; Escosa, Raul; Moreno, Juana; Figuerola, Jordi; Tenorio, Antonio (2012). "Novel Flaviviruses Detected in Different Species of Mosquitoes in Spain" (PDF). Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases. 12 (3): 223–229. doi:10.1089/vbz.2011.0687. PMC 3300060. PMID 22022811.
  6. ↑ Huhtamo, Eili; Moureau, Gregory; Cook, Shelley; Julkunen, Ora; Putkuri, Niina; Kurkela, Satu; Uzcátegui, Nathalie Y.; Harbach, Ralph E.; Gould, Ernest A.; Vapalahti, Olli; de Lamballerie, Xavier (2012). "Novel insect-specific flavivirus isolated from northern Europe". Virology. 433 (2): 471–478. doi:10.1016/j.virol.2012.08.038. PMC 3919202. PMID 22999256.
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