Background
In June of 2014, a previously healthy man from Kansas with a recent history of tick exposure died from complications related to an illness marked by fever, thrombocytopenia and leukopenia. An isolate was derived from the blood of this patient during the course of diagnostic testing. This isolate was subsequently identified as a novel orthomyxovirus of the genus Thogotovirus by next generation sequencing and was named Bourbon virus after the patient’s county of residence.
Objectives
To support research and diagnostic aims, we provide a basic description of Bourbon virus at both the molecular and serological levels. Furthermore, to preliminarily identify potential host and vector range associations we have characterized the growth kinetics of Bourbon virus in a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate cell lines.
Study design
Bourbon virus was subjected to next generation-high throughput sequencing, phylogenetic, and basic structural protein analyses as well as 2-way plaque reduction neutralization assays. Also, we inoculated a variety of cell types with Bourbon virus and evaluated the growth kinetics by determining viral titers in the supernatants taken from infected cells over time.
Results
Bourbon virus possesses 24–82% identity at the amino acid sequence level and low serological cross-reactivity with other Thogotoviruses. In vitro growth kinetics reveal robust replication of Bourbon virus in mammalian and tick cells.
Conclusions
Molecular and serological characterizations identify Bourbon virus as a novel member of the genus sThogotovirus. Results from cell culture analyses suggest an association between Bourbon virus and mammalian and tick hosts.
Zika virus (ZIKV) has emerged as a major global public health concern in the last two years due to its link as a causative agent of human birth defects. Its rapid expansion into the Western Hemisphere as well as the ability to be transmitted from mother to fetus, through sexual transmission and possibly through blood transfusions has increased the need for a rapid and expansive public health response to this unprecedented epidemic. A non-invasive and rapid ZIKV diagnostic screening assay that can be performed in a clinical setting throughout pregnancy is vital for prenatal care of women living in areas of the world where exposure to the virus is possible. To meet this need we have developed a sensitive and specific reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay to detect ZIKV RNA in urine and serum with a simple visual detection. RT-LAMP results were shown to have a limit of detection 10-fold higher than qRT-PCR. As little as 1.2 RNA copies/μl was detected by RT-LAMP from a panel of 178 diagnostic specimens. The assay was shown to be highly specific for ZIKV RNA when tested with diagnostic specimens positive for dengue virus (DENV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV). The assay described here illustrates the potential for a fast, reliable, sensitive and specific assay for the detection of ZIKV from urine or serum that can be performed in a clinical or field setting with minimal equipment and technological expertise.
The flaviviral envelope (E) protein directs virus-mediated membrane fusion. To investigate membrane fusion as a requirement for virus growth, we introduced 27 unique mutations into the fusion peptide of an infectious cDNA clone of dengue 2 virus and recovered seven stable mutant viruses. The fusion efficiency of the mutants was impaired, demonstrating for the first time the requirement for specific FP AAs in optimal fusion. Mutant viruses exhibited different growth kinetics and/or genetic stabilities in different cell types and adult mosquitoes. Virus particles could be recovered following RNA transfection of cells with four lethal mutants; however, recovered viruses could not re-infect cells. These viruses could enter cells, but internalized virus appeared to be retained in endosomal compartments of infected cells, thus suggesting a fusion blockade. Mutations of the FP also resulted in reduced virus reactivity with flavivirus group-reactive antibodies, confirming earlier reports using virus-like particles.
To determine the importance of dengue 2 virus (DEN2V) envelope (E) protein glycosylation, virus mutants in one or both of the N-linked glycosylation motifs were prepared. We found that while the E2 mutant virus (N153Q) replicated in mammalian and mosquito cells, the E1 (N67Q) and E1/2 (N67Q and N153Q) mutant viruses were unable to grow in mammalian cells. Infection of C6/36 mosquito cells with either the E1 or E1/2 mutants resulted in the introduction of a compensatory mutation, K64N, restoring glycosylation in the area. All mutants replicated similarly in inoculated Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, with no change in their mutations. These results suggest that N-linked glycosylation of the E protein is not necessary for DEN2V replication in mosquitoes, however N-linked glycosylation at amino acid N67 (or nearby N64) is critical for the survival of the virus in either mammalian or insect cell culture.
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