Geographical and Tick-Dependent Distribution of Flavi-Like Alongshan and Yanggou Tick Viruses in Russia.

А М Щетинин ,Elena V Panjukova,L А Bespyatova ,Larissa V Gmyl,А Ф Шамсутдинов ,Olga B Zhurenkova,Alexander S Yakovlev,Evgeny S Morozkin,Anna A Saryglar,Alexander A Nafeev,Evgeniy N Rozhdestvenskiy,Е Н Романенко ,Natalia D Oorzhak,Nataliya I Solomashchenko,Kristina A Purmak,Anna N Khaisarova,Svetlana V Luchinina,С В Айбулатов ,Nikita Chernetsov,Evgenii G Volchev,С Г Медведев ,Vladimir A Gushchin,Alexander S Klimentov,Lesley Bell‐Sakyi ,Sergey V Bugmyrin ,І В Ковальчук ,Marat T Makenov,Pavel Grigorevich Vovkotech ,Ivan S Kholodilov,А В Халин ,Alexander G Litov,Anna Y Ivannikova,Oxana A Belova,Galina K Bazarova,Alexandra E Polienko,Lyudmila S Karan,Galina G Karganova,Liubov L Chernokhaeva,Владимир Трифонов

doi:10.3390/v13030458

Abstract

The genus Flavivirus includes related, unclassified segmented flavi-like viruses, two segments of which have homology with flavivirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase NS5 and RNA helicase-protease NS3. This group includes such viruses as Jingmen tick virus, Alongshan virus, Yanggou tick virus and others. We detected the Yanggou tick virus in Dermacentor nuttalli and Dermacentor marginatus ticks in two neighbouring regions of Russia. The virus prevalence ranged from 0.5% to 8.0%. We detected RNA of the Alongshan virus in 44 individuals or pools of various tick species in eight regions of Russia. The virus prevalence ranged from 0.6% to 7.8%. We demonstrated the successful replication of the Yanggou tick virus and Alongshan virus in IRE/CTVM19 and HAE/CTVM8 tick cell lines without a cytopathic effect. According to the phylogenetic analysis, we divided the Alongshan virus into two groups: an Ixodes persulcatus group and an Ixodes ricinus group. In addition, the I. persulcatus group can be divided into European and Asian subgroups. We found amino acid signatures specific to the I. ricinus and I. persulcatus groups and also distinguished between the European and Asian subgroups of the I. persulcatus group.

Highlights

The genus Flavivirus belongs to the family Flaviviridae, whose representatives are small enveloped viruses with ssRNA(+) genomes of about 10 kb in length that encode one large open reading frame [1]
Jingmen tick virus (JMTV), Yanggou tick virus (YGTV) and Alongshan virus (ALSV) are included in the JMV group, along with other segmented flavi-like viruses
Sequences of YGTV from 21 samples or strains obtained from ticks collected in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China were first deposited in GenBank in July 2018

Summary

Introduction

The genus Flavivirus belongs to the family Flaviviridae, whose representatives are small enveloped viruses with ssRNA(+) genomes of about 10 kb in length that encode one large open reading frame [1]. Flavi-like viruses with a genome length exceeding 16 kb [2] and segmented genome [3] have been found. Segmented flavi-like viruses were included in the group of unclassified viruses, related to the genus Flavivirus [4]. The representatives of the Jingmenvirus (JMV) group, such as the Jingmen tick virus (JMTV), Alongshan virus (ALSV), Yanggou tick virus (YGTV) and others, have segmented ssRNA(+) genomes, two segments of which have homology with the well-studied flavivirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase NS5 (segment 1) and RNA helicase-protease. Before the discovery of JMTVs [3], only representatives of the genus Omegatetravirus of the family Tetraviridae, which infect insects [8], and the genera Alphanodavirus and Betanodavirus of the family Nodaviridae, which infect insects and fish, respectively [9], were known to have a segmented ssRNA(+) genome

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion