Horseshoe crabs (Xiphosura: Limulidae) are the sole surviving species of the class Merostomata, with only four extant species remaining today. Recent advances in metagenomic next-generation sequencing have unveiled a vast diversity of RNA viruses and non-retroviral endogenous RNA viral elements (nrEVEs) in invertebrates. This raises intriguing questions about the RNA virome and nrEVEs in horseshoe crabs as "living fossils," potentially offering insights into the evolutionary relationships between RNA viruses and these ancient organisms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Genomics
April 2025
Background: Although advances in metagenomics, viral diversity and non-retroviral endogenous viral elements (EVEs) in wheat aphids remain underexplored. By analyzing 470 publicly available datasets and one laboratory-generated transcriptome, the RNA virome and EVEs in the genomes of Sitobion avenae, Schizaphis graminum, and Rhopalosiphum padi were systematically investigated.
Results: We identified 43 RNA viruses, including 12 novel and 31 known RNA viruses.
Unlabelled: Many plant viruses are persistently transmitted by insect vectors. The viral antagonism of insect innate immune responses is a critical step in ensuring persistent viral infection. Recent studies have shown that the Toll immune pathway mediates the persistent and propagative transmission of rice stripe virus (RSV) in its insect vector ().
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is one of the most common diseases in the elderly population. Recently, immune disorders have been considered to play an important role in IDD. This study aimed to conduct a bioinformatic analysis to identify biomarkers associated with IDD immune cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Virol
December 2024
Unlabelled: While a considerable number of viruses have been recently discovered in hematophagous insects, there remains insufficient research on virus diversity and their association with phytophagous insect hosts. In this study, we conducted a systematic investigation of the RNA virome in the small brown planthopper (SBPH), , an important vector of plant viruses. We successfully identified a total of 22 RNA viruses, including 17 novel viruses, from various families.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Negevirus is a recently proposed taxon of arthropod-infecting virus, which is associated with plant viruses of two families ( and ). Nevertheless, the evolutionary history of negevirus-host and its relationship with plant viruses remain poorly understood. Endogenous nege-like viral elements (ENVEs) are ancient nege-like viral sequences integrated into the arthropod genomes, which can serve as the molecular fossil records of previous viral infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
April 2024
Throughout evolution, arboviruses have developed various strategies to counteract the host's innate immune defenses to maintain persistent transmission. Recent studies have shown that, in addition to bacteria and fungi, the innate Toll-Dorsal immune system also plays an essential role in preventing viral infections in invertebrates. However, whether the classical Toll immune pathway is involved in maintaining the homeostatic process to ensure the persistent and propagative transmission of arboviruses in insect vectors remain unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany hosts utilize the ubiquitin system to defend against viral infection. As a key subunit of the ubiquitin system, the role of polyubiquitin in the viral infection of insects is unclear. Here, we identified the full-length cDNA of the polyubiquitin-C (UBC) gene in , the small brown planthopper (SBPH).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNon-retroviral endogenous viral elements (nrEVEs) are widely dispersed throughout the genomes of eukaryotes. Although nrEVEs are known to be involved in host antiviral immunity, it remains an open question whether they can be domesticated as functional proteins to serve cellular innovations in arthropods. In this study, we found that endogenous toti-like viral elements (ToEVEs) are ubiquitously integrated into the genomes of three planthopper species, with highly variable distributions and polymorphism levels in planthopper populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent advancements in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology and bioinformatics tools have revealed a vast array of viral diversity in insects, particularly RNA viruses. However, our current understanding of insect RNA viruses has primarily focused on hematophagous insects due to their medical importance, while research on the viromes of agriculturally relevant insects remains limited. This comprehensive review aims to address the gap by providing an overview of the diversity of RNA viruses in agricultural pests and beneficial insects within the agricultural ecosystem.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
November 2021
Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV), a critical plant virus, has caused significant economic losses in cucurbit crops worldwide. It has not been proved that CGMMV can be transmitted by an insect vector. In this study, the physical contact transmission of CGMMV by Myzus persicae in Nicotiana benthamiana plants was confirmed under laboratory conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA large number of insect-specific viruses (ISVs) have recently been discovered, mostly from hematophagous insect vectors because of their medical importance, but little attention has been paid to important plant virus vectors such as the whitefly Bemisia tabaci, which exists as a complex of cryptic species. Public SRA datasets of B. tabaci and newly generated transcriptomes of three Chinese populations are here comprehensively investigated to characterize the whitefly viromes of different cryptic species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Aphids are important vectors of numerous plant viruses. Besides plant viruses, a number of insect specific viruses (ISVs), such as nege/nege-like viruses, have been recently discovered in aphids of the genera Aphis, Rhopalosiphum, and Sitobion.
Findings: In this study, the complete genome sequence of a novel nege-like virus, tentatively named "Indomegoura nege-like virus 1" (INLV1), was identified in aphids of the genus Indomegoura.
Persistent plant viruses multiply and circulate inside insect vectors following the route of midgut-hemolymph-salivary gland. Currently, how viruses interact with insect vectors after they are released into hemolymph is not entirely clear. In this study, we found that the hemolymph and fat body (HF) contained the highest Rice stripe virus (RSV) levels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Immunol
June 2021
The Toll pathway plays an important role in defense against infection of various pathogenic microorganisms, including viruses. However, current understanding of Toll pathway was mainly restricted in mammal and some model insects such as and mosquitoes. Whether plant viruses can also activate the Toll signaling pathway in vector insects is still unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Chem Inf Comput Sci
February 2003
To simplify the abstraction of descriptors, for the correlation analysis of the stability constants of gadolinium(III) complexes and their ligand structures, aiming at gadolinium(III) complexes, we only considered the ligands and ignored the common parts of the structures, i.e., the metal ions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF