Discovery and characterisation of a new insect-specific bunyavirus from Culex mosquitoes captured in northern Australia

Jody Hobson-Peters; David Warrilow; Breeanna J McLean; Daniel Watterson; Agathe M G Colmant; Andrew F van den Hurk; Sonja Hall-Mendelin; Marcus L Hastie; Jeffrey J Gorman; Jessica J Harrison; Natalie A Prow; Ross T Barnard; Richard Allcock; Cheryl A Johansen; Roy A Hall

doi:10.1016/j.virol.2015.11.003

Discovery and characterisation of a new insect-specific bunyavirus from Culex mosquitoes captured in northern Australia

Virology. 2016 Feb:489:269-81. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2015.11.003. Epub 2016 Jan 14.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: j.peters2@uq.edu.au.
² Public Health Virology Forensic and Scientific Services, Department of Health, Queensland Government, PO Box 594, Archerfield, Queensland 4108, Australia.
³ Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia.
⁴ Protein Discovery Centre, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, 300 Herston Road, Herston, QLD 4006, Australia.
⁵ Lottery West State Biomedical Facility - Genomics, School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; Department of Clinical Immunology, Pathwest Laboratory Medicine Western Australia, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
⁶ Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: roy.hall@uq.edu.au.

PMID: 26773387
DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2015.11.003

Abstract

Insect-specific viruses belonging to significant arboviral families have recently been discovered. These viruses appear to be maintained within the insect population without the requirement for replication in a vertebrate host. Mosquitoes collected from Badu Island in the Torres Strait in 2003 were analysed for insect-specific viruses. A novel bunyavirus was isolated in high prevalence from Culex spp. The new virus, provisionally called Badu virus (BADUV), replicated in mosquito cells of both Culex and Aedes origin, but failed to replicate in vertebrate cells. Genomic sequencing revealed that the virus was distinct from sequenced bunyavirus isolates reported to date, but phylogenetically clustered most closely with recently discovered mosquito-borne, insect-specific bunyaviruses in the newly proposed Goukovirus genus. The detection of a functional furin cleavage motif upstream of the two glycoproteins in the M segment-encoded polyprotein suggests that BADUV may employ a unique strategy to process the virion glycoproteins.

Keywords: Bunyavirus; Goukovirus; Insect-specific; Mosquito; Mosquito-specific.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Australia
Culex / virology*
Molecular Sequence Data
Orthobunyavirus / classification
Orthobunyavirus / genetics
Orthobunyavirus / isolation & purification*
Orthobunyavirus / physiology
Phylogeny
Species Specificity
Virus Replication