Vertically transmitted rhabdoviruses are found across three insect families and have dynamic interactions with their hosts

Longdon, Ben, Day, Jonathan P, Schulz, Nora, Leftwich, Philip T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9500-6592, de Jong, Maaike A., Breuker, Casper J., Gibbs, Melanie, Obbard, Darren J., Wilfert, Lena, Smith, Sophia C. L., McGonigle, John E., Houslay, Thomas M., Wright, Lucy I., Livraghi, Luca, Evans, Luke C., Friend, Lucy A., Chapman, Tracey, Vontas, John, Kambouraki, Natasa and Jiggins, Francis M. (2017) Vertically transmitted rhabdoviruses are found across three insect families and have dynamic interactions with their hosts. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 284 (1847). ISSN 0962-8452

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Abstract

A small number of free-living viruses have been found to be obligately vertically transmitted, but it remains uncertain how widespread vertically transmitted viruses are and how quickly they can spread through host populations. Recent metagenomic studies have found several insects to be infected with sigma viruses (Rhabdoviridae). Here, we report that sigma viruses that infect Mediterranean fruit flies (Ceratitis capitata), Drosophila immigrans, and speckled wood butterflies (Pararge aegeria) are all vertically transmitted. We find patterns of vertical transmission that are consistent with those seen in Drosophila sigma viruses, with high rates of maternal transmission, and lower rates of paternal transmission. This mode of transmission allows them to spread rapidly in populations, and using viral sequence data we found the viruses in D. immigrans and C. capitata had both recently swept through host populations. The viruses were common in nature, with mean prevalences of 12% in C. capitata, 38% in D. immigrans and 74% in P. aegeria. We conclude that vertically transmitted rhabdoviruses may be widespread in a broad range of insect taxa, and that these viruses can have dynamic interactions with their hosts.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sigmavirus,wolbachia, rhabdoviridae
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Biosciences Teaching and Education Research Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Organisms and the Environment
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	23 Dec 2016 00:01
Last Modified:	12 May 2023 00:27
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/61879
DOI:	10.1098/rspb.2016.2381

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