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Tuning the adventure of an Crossbreed Polymer-Oxocluster Catalyst: The Composition-Selectivity Connection.
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) can cause severe infection in neonates leading to mortality and lifelong morbidity. Prophylactic approaches, such as maternal immunization, could prevent neonatal HSV (nHSV) infection by providing protective immunity and preventing perinatal transmission. We previously showed that maternal immunization with a replication-defective HSV vaccine candidate, dl5-29, leads to transfer of virus-specific antibodies into the neonatal circulation and protects against nHSV neurological sequela and mortality (C. D. Patel et al., STM, 2019, https//doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aau6039 In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of maternal immunization with an experimental trivalent (gC2, gD2 and gE2) subunit vaccine to protect against nHSV. Using a murine model of nHSV, we demonstrated that maternal immunization with the trivalent vaccine protected offspring against nHSV disseminated disease and mortality. In addition, offspring of immunized dams were substantially protected from behavioral pathology following HSV infection. This study supports the idea that maternal immunization is a viable strategy for prevention of neonatal infections.Importance Herpes simplex virus is among the most serious infections of newborns. Current antiviral therapies can prevent mortality if infection is recognized early and treated promptly. Most children who survive nHSV develop lifelong neurological and behavioral deficits, despite aggressive antiviral treatment. We propose that maternal immunization could provide protection against HSV for both mother and baby. To this end, we used a trivalent glycoprotein vaccine candidate to demonstrate that offspring are protected from nHSV following maternal immunization. Significantly, this approach protected offspring from long-term behavioral morbidity. Our results emphasize the importance of providing protective immunity to neonates during this window of vulnerability. Copyright © 2020 American Society for Microbiology.Virophages are small parasitic dsDNA viruses of giant dsDNA viruses infecting unicellular eukaryotes. Except for few isolated virophages characterized by parasitization mechanisms, features of virophages discovered in metagenomic data sets remain largely unknown. Here, complete genomes of seven virophages (26.6-31.5 kbp) and four large DNA viruses (190.4-392.5 kbp) are identified to co-exist in the freshwater lake, Dishui Lake, in Shanghai, China, based on environmental metagenomic investigation. Both genomic and phylogenetic analyses indicate that Dishui Lake virophages (DSLVs) are closely related to each other and other lake virophages, and Dishui Lake large DNA viruses affiliate with the micro-green algae-infecting Prasinovirus of the Phycodnaviridae (named Dishui Lake phycodnaviruses, DSLPVs) and protists (protozoa and algae)-infecting Mimiviridae (named Dishui Lake large algae virus, DSLLAV), respectively. The DSLVs possess more genes with closer homology to that of large algae viruses than to that of giirophage (CVv). However, the CVv system remains largely unknown in environmental metagenomic data sets. In this study, we systematically investigate the metagenomic dataset from the freshwater lake, Dishui Lake, in Shanghai, China. Consequently, four novel large algae viruses and seven virophages are discovered to co-exist in Dishui Lake. Surprisingly, a novel CVv tripartite infection system comprising green algae, large green algae virus (Phycodnaviridae and Mimiviridae-related) and virophage is identified based on genetic link, genomic signature and CRISPR system analyses. Meanwhile, a non-homologous CRISPR like system is found in Dishui Lake large algae virus, which appears to protect the virus host from the infection of DSLVs. check details These findings are critical to give insight into the potential significances of CVv in global evolution and ecology. Copyright © 2020 American Society for Microbiology.Ectoparasites play an important role in virus transmission among vertebrates. Little, however, is known about the nature of those viruses that pass between invertebrates and vertebrates. In Australia, flies and fleas support the mechanical transmission of two viral biological controls against wild rabbits - rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) and myxoma virus. We compared virome compositions in rabbits and these ectoparasites, sequencing total RNA from multiple tissues and gut contents of wild rabbits, fleas collected from these rabbits, and flies trapped sympatrically. Meta-transcriptomic analyses identified 50 novel viruses from multiple RNA virus families. Rabbits and their ectoparasites were characterized by markedly different viromes, with virus abundance greatest in flies. Although viral contigs from six virus families/groups were found in both rabbits and ectoparasites, they clustered in distinct host-dependent lineages. A novel calicivirus and picornavirus detected in rabbit cecal content were vert invertebrate species harbor substantial virus diversity, it is unclear how many of the viruses carried by invertebrates have the potential to infect vertebrate species. We used the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) as a model species to compare virome compositions in a vertebrate host and known associated ectoparasite mechanical vectors, in this case, fleas and blowflies. In particular, we aimed to infer the extent of viral transfer between these distinct types of host. Our analysis revealed that despite extensive viral diversity in both rabbits and associated ectoparasites, and the close interaction of these vertebrate and invertebrate species, biological viral transmission from ectoparasites to vertebrate species is rare. We did, however, find evidence to support the role of blowflies in transmitting viruses without active replication in the insect. Copyright © 2020 Mahar et al.The discovery in 1976 of waterfowl as the primary reservoir of influenza A viruses (IAV) has since spurred decades of waterfowl surveillance efforts by researchers dedicated to understanding the ecology of IAV and its subsequent threat to human and animal health. Here, we employed a multi-decade, continental-scale approach of surveillance data to understand trends of seasonal IAV subtype diversity. Between 1976-2015, IAVs were detected in 8,427 (10.8%) of 77,969 samples from migratory waterfowl throughout the Central and Mississippi Migratory Flyways in the United States and Canada. A total of 96 hemagglutinin (HA)/neuraminidase (NA) subtype combinations were isolated, which included most HA (H1-H14) and all 9 NA subtypes. We observed an annual trend of high influenza prevalence, involving a few dominant subtypes, on northern breeding grounds during summer with progressively lowered influenza prevalence, comprised of a highly diverse profile of subtypes, as waterfowl migrate towards southern wintering grounds.
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