Isolation and sequencing of Dashli virus, a novel Sicilian-like virus in sandflies from Iran; genetic and phylogenetic evidence for the creation of one novel species within the Phlebovirus genus in the Phenuiviridae family

Alkan, Cigdem; Vaziri, Vahideh Moin; Ayhan, Nazlı; Badakhshan, Mehdi; Bichaud, Laurence; Rahbarian, N; Javadian, E; Alten, Bülent; Lamballerie, Xavier de; Charrel, Rémi N.

doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0005978

Cited by 21 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Recent reports suggest that other sand fly-transmitted phleboviruses may be involved in human disease [1,4,5]. This is the case for Granada virus (GRV), a phlebovirus detected for the first time in sand flies captured in 2003 and 2004 in the province of Granada (southeast Spain).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Real-time RT-PCR assay to detect Granada virus and the related Massilia and Arrabida phleboviruses

et al. 2020

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Background: Granada virus belongs to the genus Phlebovirus within the Naples serocomplex and was detected for the first time in sand flies from Spain in 2003. Seroprevalence studies have revealed that Granada virus may infect humans with most cases being asymptomatic. Moreover, recent studies in vector samples revealed that the related Massilia and Arrabida phleboviruses could be also circulating in Spain. The objective of this study was to develop and assess a new sensitive real-time RT-PCR assay for Granada virus diagnosis able to detect the related phleboviruses Massilia and Arrabida. Methods: Two specific primers and one unique probe to detect Granada, Massilia and Arrabida viruses, without differentiating between them, were designed targeting the conserved L-segment of their genome. Sensitivity was assessed using 10-fold serial dilutions of quantified in vitro DNA samples. Specificity was evaluated by testing different genomic RNA extracted from other representative phleboviruses. The new assay was used for virus detection in sand flies collected in 2012 from the Balearic Archipelago, a touristic hotspot in the Mediterranean. Results: The real-time RT-PCR assay exhibited a sensitivity per reaction of 19 copies for Granada and Arrabida, and 16 copies for Massilia. No other related phleboviruses were detected. From the 37 pools of sand fly samples studied from four different Balearic Islands, we detected one positive in the island of Cabrera. Conclusions: To our knowledge, the method described here is the first real-time RT-PCR designed to detect Granada virus and the related Massilia and Arrabida phleboviruses. The study demonstrated that this is a rapid, robust and reliable assay for the accurate diagnosis of human infections as well as for virus surveillance in vectors.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Real-time RT-PCR assay to detect Granada virus and the related Massilia and Arrabida phleboviruses

et al. 2020

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“…In addition to prominent, recently emerged phleboviruses such as severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) in Asia and Heartland virus (HRTV) in North America ( 2 ), there are long-known members, such as Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), Punta Toro virus (PTV), Toscana virus (TOSV), and sandfly fever Sicilian virus (SFSV), that are often reemerging or spreading into new geographical areas ( 3 ). In addition to these highly virulent (SFTSV, HRTV, and RVFV) and intermediately virulent (TOSV and SFSV) human pathogens, rapid progress in high-throughput sequencing enabled the identification of novel phleboviruses for which the disease potential is either recognized (e.g., sandfly fever Turkey virus [ 4 ] and Adria virus [ 5 ]) or not yet clarified (e.g., Massilia virus [ 6 ], Aguacate virus [ 7 ], and Dashli virus [ 8 ]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

NSs Protein of Sandfly Fever Sicilian Phlebovirus Counteracts Interferon (IFN) Induction by Masking the DNA-Binding Domain of IFN Regulatory Factor 3

Wuerth

Habjan

Wulle

et al. 2018

J Virol

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Phleboviruses are receiving increased attention due to the constant discovery of new species and the ongoing spread of long-known members of the genus. Outbreaks of sandfly fever were reported in the 19th century, during World War I, and during World War II. Currently, SFSV is recognized as one of the most widespread phleboviruses, exhibiting high seroprevalence rates in humans and domestic animals and causing a self-limiting but incapacitating disease predominantly in immunologically naive troops and travelers. We show how the nonstructural NSs protein of SFSV counteracts the upregulation of the antiviral interferon (IFN) system. SFSV NSs specifically inhibits promoter binding by IFN transcription factor 3 (IRF3), a molecular strategy which is unique among phleboviruses and, to our knowledge, among human pathogenic RNA viruses in general. This IRF3-specific and stoichiometric mechanism, greatly distinct from the ones exhibited by the highly virulent phleboviruses, correlates with the intermediate level of pathogenicity of SFSV.

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“…Two additional viruses, Dashli virus and Toros virus, form a monophyletic clade together with sandfly fever Sicilian virus. Dashli virus has been isolated from sandflies in the genus Sergentomyia in Iran (15) whereas Toros virus was initially isolated from sandflies collected in Turkey (16). Similarly, both viruses have not been associated with disease in humans, thus far.…”

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confidence: 99%

Insights into the Evolutionary Origin of Mediterranean Sandfly Fever Viruses

Marklewitz

Tchouassi

Hieke

et al. 2020

mSphere

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Sandfly-transmitted phleboviruses (family Phenuiviridae, order Bunyavirales) are associated with febrile illness and infections of the nervous system in humans. These viruses are almost exclusively found in tropical areas of the New World and restricted to semiarid and temperate zones in the Old World. Here, we discovered seven strains of four previously unknown phleboviruses, named Bogoria virus (BOGV), Embossos virus (EMRV), Kiborgoch virus (KBGV), and Perkerra virus (PERV), as well as the recently discovered Ntepes virus, in sandflies collected in the Kenyan Rift Valley. The genomes have a tripartite organization with conserved termini typical of phleboviruses. LOBV, PERV, and EMBV showed low similarity to known phleboviruses, with less than 55% pairwise amino acid identities in the RNA-directed RNA polymerase (RdRp) proteins, and defined a highly diversified monophyletic clade in sister relationship to the sandfly fever Sicilian serocomplex. All three viruses failed to react with sandfly fever Sicilian virus antisera in recombinant immunofluorescence assays (rIFA), suggesting that the viruses belong to a yet-unknown serogroup. In contrast, KBGV was closely related to Toscana virus (84% identity of RdRp proteins) and shared a most recent common ancestor with the clade comprising sandfly fever Naples and Toscana viruses. KBGV reacted with sandfly fever Naples and Toscana virus antisera in rIFA. The genetic diversity of the detected viruses and their phylogenetic positions implies that the Old World sandfly-borne phleboviruses originated from sub-Saharan Africa. Importantly, our findings suggest that diseases associated with sandfly-borne phlebovirus infections may also affect the Kenyan population. IMPORTANCE Studies on the genetic diversity of arthropod-borne viruses circulating in rural regions can provide critical early indications on new emerging viruses essential for global epidemic preparedness. In this study, we describe the discovery of four phleboviruses in sandflies from the Kenyan Rift Valley. The novel viruses are related to the two medically important serocomplexes, sandfly fever Naples and sandfly fever Sicilian, that are associated with febrile illness and neuroinvasive infections and which were previously not known to occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Knowledge on the occurrence of sandfly-borne phleboviruses in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa can help to decipher their contributions in the etiologies of fevers of unknown origin in patients. Our findings on five genetically diverse phleboviruses detected in Kenya suggest that the common ancestor of Old World phleboviruses existed in sub-Saharan Africa, a hot spot for emerging arboviruses.

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Isolation and sequencing of Dashli virus, a novel Sicilian-like virus in sandflies from Iran; genetic and phylogenetic evidence for the creation of one novel species within the Phlebovirus genus in the Phenuiviridae family

Cited by 21 publications

References 62 publications

Real-time RT-PCR assay to detect Granada virus and the related Massilia and Arrabida phleboviruses

Real-time RT-PCR assay to detect Granada virus and the related Massilia and Arrabida phleboviruses

NSs Protein of Sandfly Fever Sicilian Phlebovirus Counteracts Interferon (IFN) Induction by Masking the DNA-Binding Domain of IFN Regulatory Factor 3

Insights into the Evolutionary Origin of Mediterranean Sandfly Fever Viruses

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