Antigenic and glycan-binding characteristics of norovirus GII.20 capsid protein VP1.

Human norovirus (NoV) is one of the major pathogens causing acute gastroenteritis. The GII.20 NoV VP1 reveals a close evolutionary relationship with that of the widely prevalent GII.

Neonatal mouse model reveals pathogenesis of Shanxi Tick Virus 2 isolated from Haemaphysalis longicornis.

Shanxi Tick Virus 2(SXTV2), a Tamdy group member of Orthonairovirus genus, Nairoviridae family, was initially identified through Next Generation Sequencing, with its pathogenicity and risk profile remaining unclear. This study reports the first successful isolation of SXTV2 from Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks collected from Hunchun City, China-a tri-border region between China, Russia, and North Korea. The isolated SXTV2 strain replicated and produced cytopathic effects in both Vero (primate) and SW-13 (human) cell lines.

Identification of a novel ectromelia virus from rodent: Implications for use as an in vivo infection model for vaccine and antiviral research.

Ectromelia virus (ECTV), a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus, serves as both a causative agent of mousepox and a pivotal surrogate model for studying highly pathogenic orthopoxviruses. Although genomic data on ECTV remains limited, we report the isolation and characterization of a novel strain, ECTV-C-Tan-GD01, obtained from rodents in Guangdong Province, China. Nanopore sequencing yielded a complete genome (199 annotated genes, including one gene truncated at the C-terminus) with inverted terminal repeats (ITRs) harboring a conserved hairpin structure.

Development of a novel pseudovirus-based quality control material for HIV-1 nucleic acid testing and its application in external quality assessment.

With the widespread application of HIV-1 nucleic acid testing (NAT) in China, particularly in the diagnosis of HIV-1 infection, ensuring the accuracy of NAT results through quality control has become critically important. However, existing HIV-1 NAT quality control materials (QCMs), such as clinical plasma samples and inactivated HIV-1 cell culture supernatants, have limitations in sustainability, biosafety risks, and costs. MS2-armed RNA (MS2) does not replicate the biological characteristics of natural viruses or the complexities of the extraction and detection processes associated with authentic viral particles.

Structural Insights into Minor and Core Proteins of Bovine Adenovirus 3: Bridging Capsid and Genomic Core.

Adenoviruses are double-stranded DNA viruses with broad relevance to human and animal health and considerable potential as therapeutic vectors. Despite extensive studies, the structural details of core and minor capsid proteins in adenoviruses remain poorly understood. In this study, the architecture of bovine adenovirus type 3 (BAdV-3), a member of the Mastadenovirus genus, was solved by cryo-electron microscopy.

Synthetic Bacterial Membrane Vesicles as Versatile Antigen-Display Platforms against Respiratory Syncytial Virus.

Bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMV) hold promise as vaccine platforms due to their natural adjuvant properties and nanoscale dimensions. However, their inherent inflammatory properties can induce excessive immune reactions, potentially harming the host, while their variability in size and low yield pose challenges for large-scale applications. To address these challenges, we developed synthetic bacterial vesicles (SyBV) through bacterial cell lysis followed by detergent treatment and sonication to eliminate nucleic acids, producing high-purity vesicles with minimal cytoplasmic residue.

Isolation and relationship analysis of Listeria phages with various serotype hosts and morphological characterization.

Listeriosis, caused by Listeria monocytogenes (Lm), is a severe foodborne illness with a high fatality rate. Listeria phages specifically target and lyse Lm, offer a promising alternative for biocontrol and phage therapy. However, most existing studies focus on the lytic characteristics of Listeria phages using limited sample sizes.

Structure of the scaffolding protein and portal within the bacteriophage P22 procapsid provides insights into the self-assembly process.

In the assembly pathway of tailed double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) bacteriophages and herpesviruses, a procapsid with a dodecameric portal for DNA delivery at a unique vertex is initially formed. Appropriate procapsid assembly requires the transient presence of multiple copies of a scaffolding protein (SP), which is absent in the mature virion. However, how the SP contributes to dodecameric portal formation, facilitates portal and coat protein incorporation, and is subsequently released remains unclear because of a lack of structural information.

The In Situ Structure of T-Series T1 Reveals a Conserved Lambda-Like Tail Tip.

It is estimated that over 60% of known tailed phages are siphophages, which are characterized by a long, flexible, and non-contractile tail. Nevertheless, entire high-resolution structures of siphophages remain scarce. Using cryo-EM, we resolved the structures of T-series siphophage T1, encompassing its head, connector complex, tail tube, and tail tip, at near-atomic resolution.

structures of the contractile nanomachine myophage Mu in both its extended and contracted states.

Unlabelled: Myophage Mu is a representative of contractile nanomachines with a simple tail baseplate. It has the capacity to infect a range of intestinal bacteria and has extensive applications in genetic engineering research. Nevertheless, a comprehensive understanding of the entire structure and contractile mechanisms of Mu remains elusive.

Isolation, characterization and genomic analysis of the novel Listeria bacteriophage LMLPA3 as a potential antimicrobial in foods.

Listeria monocytogenes (LM) is an opportunistic foodborne pathogen responsible for listeriosis in both humans and animals. The disease manifests in a variety of ways, including febrile gastroenteritis, septicemia, meningitis, and in some cases, preterm birth and spontaneous abortion. It is therefore crucial to develop effective strategies to control this bacterium.

The Immunogenicity of Coxsackievirus A6 (D3a Sub-Genotype) Virus-Like Particle and mRNA Vaccines.

In recent years, coxsackievirus A6 (CVA6) has surpassed enterovirus A71 to become the main pathogen causing severe Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease (HFMD) in China with a substantial disease burden. However, there is currently no commercial CVA6 vaccine. The D3a genotype of CVA6 is the predominant genotype in China.

Conformational changes in and translocation of small proteins: insights into the ejection mechanism of podophages.

Unlabelled: Podophage tails are too short to span the cell envelope during infection. Consequently, podophages initially eject the core proteins within the head for the formation of an elongated trans-envelope channel for DNA ejection. Although the core proteins of bacteriophage T7 have been resolved at near-atomic resolution, the mechanisms of core proteins and DNA ejection remain to be fully elucidated.

Three-dimensional structures of Vibrio cholerae typing podophage VP1 in two states.

Lytic podophages (VP1-VP5) play crucial roles in subtyping Vibrio cholerae O1 biotype El Tor. However, until now no structures of these phages have been available, which hindered our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of infection and DNA release. Here, we determined the cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of mature and DNA-ejected VP1 structures at near-atomic and subnanometer resolutions, respectively.

Graphene oxide nanoparticles inhibit H9N2 influenza A virus infectivity by destroying viral coat proteins.

Nanoparticles have gained attention as potential antiviral agents, but the effects of graphene oxide nanoparticles (GONPs) on influenza virus remain unclear. In this study, we evaluated the antiviral activity of GONPs against influenza virus strain A/Hunan-Lengshuitan/11197/2013(H9N2). Our results show that GONPs with a diameter of 4 nm exerted an antiviral effect, whereas those with a diameter of 400 nm had no effect.

Structures of Mature and Urea-Treated Empty Bacteriophage T5: Insights into Siphophage Infection and DNA Ejection.

T5 is a siphophage that has been extensively studied by structural and biochemical methods. However, the complete in situ structures of T5 before and after DNA ejection remain unknown. In this study, we used cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to determine the structures of mature T5 (a laboratory-adapted, fiberless T5 mutant) and urea-treated empty T5 (lacking the tip complex) at near-atomic resolutions.

A novel variant of Chlamydia psittaci causing human psittacosis in China.

From January 2022 to November 2022, sporadic psittacosis occurred in Lishui city, China. The patients were presented with fever, cough, and pulmonary infiltration. Their clinical symptoms were not relieved after receiving cephalosporin, penicillin, beta-lactamase inhibitors, and quinolones.

Identification of a novel orthonairovirus from ticks and serological survey in animals near China-North korea border.

Emerging pathogenic tick-borne viruses (TBVs) have attracted a great deal of attention due to their significant impact on human and animal health. A novel orthonairovirus named Dadong virus (DDV) was isolated from Haemaphysalis concinna ticks in the Changbai Mountain region on the China-North Korea border. DDV can induce cytopathic effects in mammalian and human cell lines.

Structure of the siphophage neck-Tail complex suggests that conserved tail tip proteins facilitate receptor binding and tail assembly.

Siphophages have a long, flexible, and noncontractile tail that connects to the capsid through a neck. The phage tail is essential for host cell recognition and virus-host cell interactions; moreover, it serves as a channel for genome delivery during infection. However, the in situ high-resolution structure of the neck-tail complex of siphophages remains unknown.

Preparation and immunoprotective effects of a virus-like particle candidate vaccine of the dominant epidemic D3 genotype coxsackievirus A6 in China.

Coxsackievirus A6 of the D3a genotype (CVA6 D3a) is a primary pathogen causingmainland of China's hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). Viral-like particle (VLP) vaccines represent a potential candidate vaccine to prevent HFMD. This study collected Anti-CVA6 D3a VLPs serum from BALB/c female mice immunized using CVA6 D3a VLPs.

The genomic characteristics and pathogenicity of a mammalian orthoreovirus within a new lineage from wild pika in plateau.

Emerging and re-emerging viruses from wild animals have seriously threatened the health of humans and domesticated animals in recent years. Herein, we isolated a new mammalian orthoreovirus (MRV), Pika/MRV/GCCDC7/2019 (PMRV-GCCDC7), in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau wild pika (Ochotona curzoniae). Though the PMRV-GCCDC7 shows features of a typical reovirus with ten gene segments arranged in 3:3:4 in length, the virus belongs to an independent evolutionary branch compared to other MRVs based on phylogenetic tree analysis.

VISN: virus instance segmentation network for TEM images using deep attention transformer.

The identification of viruses from negative staining transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images has mainly depended on experienced experts. Recent advances in artificial intelligence have enabled virus recognition using deep learning techniques. However, most of the existing methods only perform virus classification or semantic segmentation, and few studies have addressed the challenge of virus instance segmentation in TEM images.

Discovery and identification of a novel canine coronavirus causing a diarrhea outbreak in Vulpes.

Cross-species transmission of viruses from wildlife animal reservoirs, such as bats, poses a threat to human and domestic animal health. Previous studies have shown that domestic animals have important roles as intermediate hosts, enabling the transmission of genetically diverse coronaviruses from natural hosts to humans. Here, we report the identification and characterization of a novel canine coronavirus (VuCCoV), which caused an epidemic of acute diarrhea in Vulpes (foxes) in Shenyang, China.