Abstract
Little is known about the viruses infecting most species. Even in groups as well-studied as Drosophila, only a handful of viruses have been well-characterized. A viral metagenomic approach was used to explore viral diversity in 83 wild-caught Drosophila innubila, a mushroom feeding member of the quinaria group. A single fly that was injected with, and died from, Drosophila C Virus (DCV) was added to the sample as a control. Two-thirds of reads in the infected sample had DCV as the best BLAST hit, suggesting that the protocol developed is highly sensitive. In addition to the DCV hits, several sequences had Oryctes rhinoceros Nudivirus, a double-stranded DNA virus, as a best BLAST hit. The virus associated with these sequences was termed Drosophila innubila Nudivirus (DiNV). PCR screens of natural populations showed that DiNV was both common and widespread taxonomically and geographically. Electron microscopy confirms the presence of virions in fly fecal material similar in structure to other described Nudiviruses. In 2 species, D. innubila and D. falleni, the virus is associated with a severe (∼80–90%) loss of fecundity and significantly decreased lifespan.
Highlights
The advent of high-throughput DNA sequencing technology has facilitated the discovery and identification of microbes from environmental samples
Though most of the focus has been on metagenomics of microbial communities, leading to the detection of a huge diversity of bacteria and their related bacteriophages [1,2,3], viral metagenomic approaches have recently been used to explore viral diversity within individuals exhibiting symptoms ranging from obesity in humans to colony collapse disorder in honey bees to Shaking Mink Syndrome in mink [4,5,6,7]
The Wolbachia-infected sample was spiked with 1 fly that had been injected with Drosophila C virus (DCV)
Summary
The advent of high-throughput DNA sequencing technology has facilitated the discovery and identification of microbes from environmental samples. The interaction between vertically and horizontally transmitted microbes and pathogens is the focus of much theoretical and empirical attention [13,14,15,16,17]. Probably the most common vertically transmitted endosymbiont among insects [18,19], has recently been found to confer resistance to certain RNA viruses in some hosts [14,15,20,21]. The importance of such virus protection in natural populations of Drosophila has not yet been explored. To investigate the relationship between insect hosts, endosymbiotic bacteria, and viruses, wild-caught Drosophila innubila females, about 1/3 of which are infected with Wolbachia [22], were screened for virus infection using a viral metagenomic approach
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