Newly discovered 'multicomponent' virus can infect animals

Date: August 25, 2016

Source: US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases

Scientists have identified a new "multicomponent" virus -- one containing different segments of genetic material in separate particles -- that can infect animals, according to research published today in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

This new pathogen, called Guaico Culex virus (GCXV), was isolated from several species of mosquitoes in Central and South America. GCXV does not appear to infect mammals, according to first author Jason Ladner, Ph.D., of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). However, the team also isolated a related virus -- called Jingmen tick virus, or JMTV -- from a nonhuman primate. Further analysis demonstrates that both GCXV and JMTV belong to a highly diverse and newly discovered group of viruses called the Jingmenvirus group.

Taken together, the research suggests that the host range of this virus group is quite diverse -- and highlights the potential relevance of these viruses to animal and human health.

"Animal viruses typically have all genome segments packaged together into a single viral particle, so only one of those particles is needed to infect a host cell," Ladner explained. "But in a multicomponent virus, the genome is divided into multiple pieces, with each one packaged separately into a viral particle. At least one particle of each type is required for cell infection."

Several plant pathogens have this type of organization, but the study published today is the first to describe a multicomponent virus that infects animals.

Working with collaborators including the University of Texas Medical Branch and the New York State Department of Health, the USAMRIID team extracted and sequenced virus from mosquitoes collected around the world. The newly discovered virus is named for the Guaico region of Trinidad, where the mosquitoes that contained it were first found.

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