Abstract
BackgroundThe family Mesoniviridae (order Nidovirales) comprises of a group of positive-sense, single-stranded RNA ([+]ssRNA) viruses isolated from mosquitoes.FindingsThirteen novel insect-specific virus isolates were obtained from mosquitoes collected in Indonesia, Thailand and the USA. By electron microscopy, the virions appeared as spherical particles with a diameter of ~50 nm. Their 20,129 nt to 20,777 nt genomes consist of positive-sense, single-stranded RNA with a poly-A tail. Four isolates from Houston, Texas, and one isolate from Java, Indonesia, were identified as variants of the species Alphamesonivirus-1 which also includes Nam Dinh virus (NDiV) from Vietnam and Cavally virus (CavV) from Côte d’Ivoire. The eight other isolates were identified as variants of three new mesoniviruses, based on genome organization and pairwise evolutionary distances: Karang Sari virus (KSaV) from Java, Bontag Baru virus (BBaV) from Java and Kalimantan, and Kamphaeng Phet virus (KPhV) from Thailand. In comparison with NDiV, the three new mesoniviruses each contained a long insertion (180 – 588 nt) of unknown function in the 5’ region of ORF1a, which accounted for much of the difference in genome size. The insertions contained various short imperfect repeats and may have arisen by recombination or sequence duplication.ConclusionsIn summary, based on their genome organizations and phylogenetic relationships, thirteen new viruses were identified as members of the family Mesoniviridae, order Nidovirales. Species demarcation criteria employed previously for mesoniviruses would place five of these isolates in the same species as NDiV and CavV (Alphamesonivirus-1) and the other eight isolates would represent three new mesonivirus species (Alphamesonivirus-5, Alphamesonivirus-6 and Alphamesonivirus-7). The observed spatiotemporal distribution over widespread geographic regions and broad species host range in mosquitoes suggests that mesoniviruses may be common in mosquito populations worldwide.
Highlights
The family Mesoniviridae comprises of a group of positive-sense, single-stranded RNA ([+]ssRNA) viruses isolated from mosquitoes
In summary, based on their genome organizations and phylogenetic relationships, thirteen new viruses were identified as members of the family Mesoniviridae, order Nidovirales
These 13 viruses appear to represent four distinct species in the family Mesoniviridae, three of which are novel. Based on their wide geographic distribution, the limited sampling that has been done to date for these mosquito-specific viruses, and their broad species host range in mosquitoes, it seems likely that mesoniviruses are common in mosquito populations worldwide
Summary
The family Mesoniviridae (order Nidovirales) comprises of a group of positive-sense, single-stranded RNA ([+]ssRNA) viruses isolated from mosquitoes. Members of the Roniviridae naturally infect marine shrimp and can cause severe pathology in these economically important arthropods [6]. In this communication, we report the isolation and characterization of 13 additional mesoniviruses from mosquitoes collected in Thailand, Indonesia and the United States of America (USA). We report the isolation and characterization of 13 additional mesoniviruses from mosquitoes collected in Thailand, Indonesia and the United States of America (USA) These 13 viruses appear to represent four distinct species in the family Mesoniviridae, three of which are novel. The potential biological significance and effect of mesoniviruses on mosquito vector competence is discussed
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