The Immunogenicity of an Artificial Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Polyepitope Immunogen May Depend on Spacers Flanking Epitope.

The development of artificial polyepitope immunogens based on the conserved CD4 and CD8 epitopes from different virus proteins combined into a single molecule is a promising approach in the development of vaccines for activating a specific T-cell response. Selection of spacer sequences flanking the epitopes within the construct and providing the optimal processing of such immunogens within the cell is an important step in the design of such vaccines. We report the results of designing polyepitope T-cell immunogens of tick-borne encephalitis virus that differ in the presence or absence of optimally selected alanine spacers between epitopes, as well as the data of comparative analysis of immunogenic properties of DNA vaccines encoding the obtained polyepitope immunogens.

Detection of potato virus S in Colorado potato beetle RNA-seq data.

Potato virus S (PVS) is a widely distributed potato pathogen that typically causes mild or asymptomatic infections. Still, certain genotypes can cause up to 20% yield losses, especially when co-infected with other viruses. Aphids are the only currently recognized insect vectors of PVS; however, the mechanical transmission through plant contact is also known.

Enhancing the reverse transcriptase function in Taq polymerase via AI-driven multiparametric rational design.

Introduction: Modification of natural enzymes to introduce new properties and enhance existing ones is a central challenge in bioengineering. This study is focused on the development of Taq polymerase mutants that show enhanced reverse transcriptase (RTase) activity while retaining other desirable properties such as fidelity, 5'- 3' exonuclease activity, effective deoxyuracyl incorporation, and tolerance to locked nucleic acid (LNA)-containing substrates. Our objective was to use AI-driven rational design combined with multiparametric wet-lab analysis to identify and validate Taq polymerase mutants with an optimal combination of these properties.

Nearly complete genome sequences of the first two identified Colorado potato beetle viruses.

The Colorado potato beetle is one of the most devastating potato pests in the world. However, its viral pathogens, which might have potential in pest control, have remained unexplored. With high-throughput sequencing of Colorado potato beetle samples derived from prepupal larvae which died from an unknown infection, we have identified two previously unknown RNA viruses and assembled their nearly complete genome sequences.