| characterization of a novel flavivirus from mosquitoes in northern europe that is related to mosquito-borne flaviviruses of the tropics. | a novel flavivirus was isolated from mosquitoes in finland, representing the first mosquito-borne flavivirus from northern europe. the isolate, designated lammi virus (lamv), was antigenically cross-reactive with other flaviviruses and exhibited typical flavivirus morphology as determined by electron microscopy. the genomic sequence of lamv was highly divergent from the recognized flaviviruses, and yet the polyprotein properties resembled those of mosquito-borne flaviviruses. phylogenetic analys ... | 2009 | 19570865 |
| evidence for ribosomal frameshifting and a novel overlapping gene in the genomes of insect-specific flaviviruses. | flaviviruses have a positive-sense, single-stranded rna genome of approximately 11 kb, encoding a large polyprotein that is cleaved to produce approximately 10 mature proteins. cell fusing agent virus, kamiti river virus, culex flavivirus and several recently discovered flaviviruses have no known vertebrate host and apparently infect only insects. we present compelling bioinformatic evidence for a 253-295 codon overlapping gene (designated fifo) conserved throughout these insect-specific flavivi ... | 2010 | 20097399 |
| isolation and sequence analysis of culex flavivirus from culex interrogator and culex quinquefasciatus in the yucatan peninsula of mexico. | previously, we reported a high prevalence of culex flavivirus (cxfv) in culex quinquefasciatus (say) in the yucatan peninsula of mexico. to determine whether other culex spp. mosquitoes in this region are susceptible to natural cxfv infection, cx. bahamensis (dyar and knab), cx. coronator (dyar and knab), cx. interrogator (dyar and knab), cx. nigripalpus (theobald) and cx. opisthopus (komp) in the yucatan peninsula of mexico were tested for cxfv. two pools of cx. interrogator were positive. the ... | 2010 | 20379749 |
| structural and functional analyses of a conserved hydrophobic pocket of flavivirus methyltransferase. | the flavivirus methyltransferase (mtase) sequentially methylates the n7 and 2'-o positions of the viral rna cap (gpppa-rna → m(7)gpppa-rna → m(7)gpppam-rna), using s-adenosyl-l-methionine (adomet) as a methyl donor. we report here that sinefungin (sin), an adomet analog, inhibits several flaviviruses through suppression of viral mtase. the crystal structure of west nile virus mtase in complex with sin inhibitor at 2.0-å resolution revealed a flavivirus-conserved hydrophobic pocket located next t ... | 2010 | 20685660 |
| insect-specific flaviviruses from culex mosquitoes in colorado, with evidence of vertical transmission. | mosquitoes were collected in colorado during 2006 and 2007 to examine spatial and seasonal patterns of risk for exposure to culex vectors and west nile virus. we used universal flavivirus primers to test pools of culex mosquitoes for viral rna. this led to the detection and subsequent isolation of two insect-specific flaviviruses: culex flavivirus (cxfv), which was first described from japan, and a novel insect flavivirus, designated calbertado virus (clbov), which has also been detected in cali ... | 2011 | 21734144 |
| novel flaviviruses detected in different species of mosquitoes in spain. | abstract we report the characterization of three novel flaviviruses isolated in spain. marisma mosquito virus, a novel mosquito borne virus, was isolated from ochlerotatus caspius mosquitoes; spanish ochlerotatus flavivirus and spanish culex flavivirus, two novel insect flaviviruses, were isolated from oc. caspius and culex pipiens, respectively. during this investigation, we designed a sensitive rt-nested polymerase chain reaction method that amplifies a 1019bp fragment of the flavivirus ns5 ... | 2011 | 22022811 |
| insect-specific virus discovery: significance for the arbovirus community. | arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), especially those transmitted by mosquitoes, are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in humans and animals worldwide. recent discoveries indicate that mosquitoes are naturally infected with a wide range of other viruses, many within taxa occupied by arboviruses that are considered insect-specific. over the past ten years there has been a dramatic increase in the literature describing novel insect-specific virus detection in mosquitoes, which has p ... | 2015 | 26378568 |
| insect-specific flaviviruses: a systematic review of their discovery, host range, mode of transmission, superinfection exclusion potential and genomic organization. | there has been a dramatic increase in the number of insect-specific flaviviruses (isfs) discovered in the last decade. historically, these viruses have generated limited interest due to their inability to infect vertebrate cells. this viewpoint has changed in recent years because some isfs have been shown to enhance or suppress the replication of medically important flaviviruses in co-infected mosquito cells. additionally, comparative studies between isfs and medically important flaviviruses can ... | 2015 | 25866904 |
| vector-virus interactions and transmission dynamics of west nile virus. | west nile virus (wnv; flavivirus; flaviviridae) is the cause of the most widespread arthropod-borne viral disease in the world and the largest outbreak of neuroinvasive disease ever observed. mosquito-borne outbreaks are influenced by intrinsic (e.g., vector and viral genetics, vector and host competence, vector life-history traits) and extrinsic (e.g., temperature, rainfall, human land use) factors that affect virus activity and mosquito biology in complex ways. the concept of vectorial capacit ... | 2013 | 24351794 |
| a new insect-specific flavivirus from northern australia suppresses replication of west nile virus and murray valley encephalitis virus in co-infected mosquito cells. | recent reports of a novel group of flaviviruses that replicate only in mosquitoes and appear to spread through insect populations via vertical transmission have emerged from around the globe. to date, there is no information on the presence or prevalence of these insect-specific flaviviruses (isfs) in australian mosquito species. to assess whether such viruses occur locally, we used reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr) and flavivirus universal primers that are specific to the ... | 2013 | 23460804 |
| eilat virus, a unique alphavirus with host range restricted to insects by rna replication. | most alphaviruses and many other arboviruses are mosquito-borne and exhibit a broad host range, infecting many different vertebrates including birds, rodents, equids, humans, and nonhuman primates. consequently, they can be propagated in most vertebrate and insect cell cultures. this ability of arboviruses to infect arthropods and vertebrates is usually essential for their maintenance in nature. however, several flaviviruses have recently been described that infect mosquitoes but not vertebrates ... | 2012 | 22908261 |
| development of one-step quantitative reverse transcription pcr for the rapid detection of flaviviruses. | the genus flavivirus includes several pathogenic agents that cause severe illness in humans. re-emergence of west nile virus in europe and continuous spread of certain flaviviruses such as dengue, yellow fever and japanese encephalitis viruses represent a global danger to public health. therefore, a rapid and accurate molecular method is required for diagnostics and epidemiological surveillance of flaviviruses. | 2013 | 23410000 |
| transmission dynamics of an insect-specific flavivirus in a naturally infected culex pipiens laboratory colony and effects of co-infection on vector competence for west nile virus. | we established a laboratory colony of culex pipiens mosquitoes from eggs collected in colorado and discovered that mosquitoes in the colony are naturally infected with culex flavivirus (cxfv), an insect-specific flavivirus. in this study we examined transmission dynamics of cxfv and effects of persistent cxfv infection on vector competence for west nile virus (wnv). we found that vertical transmission is the primary mechanism for persistence of cxfv in cx. pipiens, with venereal transmission pot ... | 2012 | 22425062 |
| viral interference and persistence in mosquito-borne flaviviruses. | mosquito-borne flaviviruses are important pathogens for humans, and the detection of two or more flaviviruses cocirculating in the same geographic area has often been reported. however, the epidemiological impact remains to be determined. mosquito-borne flaviviruses are primarily transmitted through aedes and culex mosquitoes; these viruses establish a life-long or persistent infection without apparent pathological effects. this establishment requires a balance between virus replication and the ... | 2015 | 26583158 |
| mercadeo virus: a novel mosquito-specific flavivirus from panama. | viruses in the genus flavivirus (family flaviviridae) include many arthropod-borne viruses of public health and veterinary importance. however, during the past two decades an explosion of novel insect-specific flaviviruses (isfs), some closely related to vertebrate pathogens, have been discovered. although many flavivirus pathogens of vertebrates have been isolated from naturally infected mosquitoes in panama, isfs have not previously been reported from the country. this report describes the iso ... | 2015 | 26304915 |
| ecuador paraiso escondido virus, a new flavivirus isolated from new world sand flies in ecuador, is the first representative of a novel clade in the genus flavivirus. | a new flavivirus, ecuador paraiso escondido virus (epev), named after the village where it was discovered, was isolated from sand flies (psathyromyia abonnenci, formerly lutzomyia abonnenci) that are unique to the new world. this represents the first sand fly-borne flavivirus identified in the new world. epev exhibited a typical flavivirus genome organization. nevertheless, the maximum pairwise amino acid sequence identity with currently recognized flaviviruses was 52.8%. phylogenetic analysis o ... | 2015 | 26355096 |
| new insights into flavivirus evolution, taxonomy and biogeographic history, extended by analysis of canonical and alternative coding sequences. | to generate the most diverse phylogenetic dataset for the flaviviruses to date, we determined the genomic sequences and phylogenetic relationships of 14 flaviviruses, of which 10 are primarily associated with culex spp. mosquitoes. we analyze these data, in conjunction with a comprehensive collection of flavivirus genomes, to characterize flavivirus evolutionary and biogeographic history in unprecedented detail and breadth. based on the presumed introduction of yellow fever virus into the americ ... | 2015 | 25719412 |
| novel flaviviruses from mosquitoes: mosquito-specific evolutionary lineages within the phylogenetic group of mosquito-borne flaviviruses. | novel flaviviruses that are genetically related to pathogenic mosquito-borne flaviviruses (mbfv) have been isolated from mosquitoes in various geographical locations, including finland. we isolated and characterized another novel virus of this group from finnish mosquitoes collected in 2007, designated as ilomantsi virus (ilov). unlike the mbfv that infect both vertebrates and mosquitoes, the mbfv-related viruses appear to be specific to mosquitoes similar to the insect-specific flaviviruses (is ... | 2014 | 25108382 |
| molecular characterization of flaviviruses from field-collected mosquitoes in northwestern italy, 2011-2012. | the genus flavivirus comprises several mosquito-borne species, including the zoonotic pathogens west nile and usutu virus, circulating in animals and humans in italy since 1998. due to its ecological and geographical features, piedmont is considered a risk area for flavivirus transmission. here we report the results of a flavivirus survey (detection and genetic characterization) of mosquitoes collected in piedmont in 2012 and the genetic characterization of three strains detected in 2011. | 2014 | 25160565 |
| characterization of a novel insect-specific flavivirus from brazil: potential for inhibition of infection of arthropod cells with medically important flaviviruses. | in the past decade, there has been an upsurge in the number of newly described insect-specific flaviviruses isolated pan-globally. we recently described the isolation of a novel flavivirus (tentatively designated 'nhumirim virus'; nhuv) that represents an example of a unique subset of apparently insect-specific viruses that phylogenetically affiliate with dual-host mosquito-borne flaviviruses despite appearing to be limited to replication in mosquito cells. we characterized the in vitro growth p ... | 2014 | 25146007 |
| flaviviruses in europe: complex circulation patterns and their consequences for the diagnosis and control of west nile disease. | in europe, many flaviviruses are endemic (west nile, usutu, tick-borne encephalitis viruses) or occasionally imported (dengue, yellow fever viruses). due to the temporal and geographical co-circulation of flaviviruses in europe, flavivirus differentiation by diagnostic tests is crucial in the adaptation of surveillance and control efforts. serological diagnosis of flavivirus infections is complicated by the antigenic similarities among the flavivirus genus. indeed, most flavivirus antibodies are ... | 2013 | 24225644 |
| novel insect-specific flavivirus isolated from northern europe. | mosquitoes collected in finland were screened for flaviviral rna leading to the discovery and isolation of a novel flavivirus designated hanko virus (hankv). virus characterization, including phylogenetic analysis of the complete coding sequence, confirmed hankv as a member of the "insect-specific" flavivirus (isf) group. hankv is the first member of this group isolated from northern europe, and therefore the first northern european isf for which the complete coding sequence has been determined. ... | 2012 | 22999256 |
| genetic characterization of an insect-specific flavivirus isolated from culex theileri mosquitoes collected in southern portugal. | we describe the full genetic characterization of an insect-specific flavivirus (isf) from culex theileri (theobald) mosquitoes collected in portugal. this represents the first isolation and full characterization of an isf from portuguese mosquitoes. the virus, designated ctfv, for culex theileri flavivirus, was isolated in the c6/36 stegomyia albopicta (=aedes albopictus) cell line, and failed to replicate in vertebrate (vero) cells in common with other isfs. the ctfv genome encodes a single pol ... | 2012 | 22579596 |
| serological evidence of tick-borne encephalitis virus infection in moose and deer in finland: sentinels for virus circulation. | the incidence of tick-borne encephalitis (tbe) in humans has increased in finland, and the disease has emerged in new foci. these foci have been investigated to determine the circulating virus subtype, the tick host species and the ecological parameters, but countrywide epidemiological information on the distribution of tbev has been limited. | 2016 | 26825371 |
| barkedji virus, a novel mosquito-borne flavivirus identified in culex perexiguus mosquitoes, israel, 2011. | barkedji virus, named after the area of its first identification in senegal, is a newly discovered flavivirus (fv), for which we propose the abbreviation bjv. in the present study, we report the first-time detection of bjv in culex perexiguus mosquitoes in israel in 2011 and determination of its almost complete polyprotein gene sequence. we characterized the bjv genome and defined putative mature proteins, conserved structural elements and potential enzyme motifs along the polyprotein precursor. ... | 2013 | 23939978 |