Humans continue to encroach on the habitats of wild animals, potentially bringing different species into contact that would not typically encounter each other under natural circumstances, and forcing them into stressful, suboptimal conditions. Stressors from unsustainable human land use changes are suspected to dramatically exacerbate the probability of zoonotic spillover of pathogens from their natural reservoir hosts to humans, both by increasing viral load (and shedding) and the interface between wildlife with livestock, pets and humans. Given their known role as reservoir hosts, bats continue to be investigated for their possible role as the origins of many viral outbreaks. However, the participation of bat-associated ectoparasites in the spread of potential pathogens requires further work to establish. Here, we conducted a comprehensive review of viruses, viral genes and other viral sequences obtained from bat ectoparasites from studies over the last four decades. This review summarizes research findings of the seven virus families in which these studies have been performed, including Paramyxoviridae, Reoviridae, Flaviviridae, Peribunyaviridae, Nairoviridae, Rhabdoviridae and Filoviridae. We highlight that bat ectoparasites, including dipterans and ticks, are often found to have medically important viruses and may have a role in the maintenance of these pathogens within bat populations.
Verticillium wilt is a major disease that severely affects eggplant production, and a new eggplant miRNA named miRm0002 identified through high-throughput sequencing was highly induced by Verticillium wilt infection. However, the miRm0002 function was still elusive. In this study, the sequence of the miRm0002 precursor was cloned and transgenic eggplants were constructed. In vivo inoculation test and in vitro fungistatic test showed that overexpressing miRm0002 lines were more resistant to Verticillium dahliae and inhibiting miRm0002 lines were more sensitive, compared to the wild-type (WT) control. Some physiological indicators were selected and the results showed that SOD, POD, and CAT activities were significantly increased in Verticillium wilt-infected overexpressing miRm0002 lines, indicating that the expression of miRm0002 activates the antioxidant system. QRT-PCR assay showed that the transcript expression of miRm0002 candidate target ARF8, a gene encoding auxin response factor was negatively related to miRm0002 in WT as well as transgenic eggplants. However, RLM-RACE mapping and degradome sequencing showed miRm0002 could not cleave the sequence of ARF8. Taken together, these data suggest that miRm0002 plays a positive role in the defense response of eggplant against Verticillium wilt.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.