RNA viromes of <em>Dermacentor nuttalli</em> ticks reveal a novel uukuvirus in Qīnghăi Province, China

Yaohui Fang; Jun Wang; Jianqing Sun; Zhengyuan Su; Shengyao Chen; Jian Xiao; Jun Ni; Zhihong Hu; Yubang He; Shu Shen; Fei Deng

doi:10.1016/j.virs.2024.04.006

August 2024

Citation: Yaohui Fang, Jun Wang, Jianqing Sun, Zhengyuan Su, Shengyao Chen, Jian Xiao, Jun Ni, Zhihong Hu, Yubang He, Shu Shen, Fei Deng. RNA viromes of Dermacentor nuttalli ticks reveal a novel uukuvirus in Qīnghăi Province, China .VIROLOGICA SINICA, 2024, 39(4) : 537-545. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.virs.2024.04.006

RNA viromes of Dermacentor nuttalli ticks reveal a novel uukuvirus in Qīnghăi Province, China

Yaohui Fang ^a,b ,
Jun Wang ^a ,
Jianqing Sun ^c ,
Zhengyuan Su ^a ,
Shengyao Chen ^a,b ,
Jian Xiao ^a,b ,
Jun Ni ^a,b ,
Zhihong Hu ^a ,
Yubang He ^c ,
Shu Shen ^{a,d,e
,,} ,
Fei Deng ^{a
,,}

a. Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety and National Virus Resource Center, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China;
b. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101408, China;
c. Qīnghăi Lake National Nature Reserve Administration, Xining 810000, China;
d. Hubei Jiangxia Laboratory, Wuhan 430200, China;
e. Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Vector-borne Infectious Diseases, Urumqi, 830002, China

Corresponding author: Shu Shen, shenshu@wh.iov.cn
Fei Deng, df@wh.iov.cn
Received Date: 17 December 2023
Accepted Date: 23 April 2024
Available online: 26 April 2024

Abstract

Ticks are a major parasite on the Qīnghăi-Tibet Plateau, western China, and represent an economic burden to agriculture and animal husbandry. Despite research on tick-borne pathogens that threaten humans and animals, the viromes of dominant tick species in this area remain unknown. In this study, we collected Dermacentor nuttalli ticks near Qīnghăi Lake and identified 13 viruses belonging to at least six families through metagenomic sequencing. Four viruses were of high abundance in pools, including Xīnjiāng tick-associated virus 1 (XJTAV1), and three novel viruses: Qīnghăi Lake virus 1, Qīnghăi Lake virus 2 (QHLV1, and QHLV2, unclassified), and Qīnghăi Lake virus 3 (QHLV3, genus Uukuvirus of family Phenuiviridae in order Bunyavirales), which lacks the M segment. The minimum infection rates of the four viruses in the tick groups were 8.2%, 49.5%, 6.2%, and 24.7%, respectively, suggesting the prevalence of these viruses in D. nuttalli ticks. A putative M segment of QHLV3 was identified from the next-generation sequencing data and further characterized for its signal peptide cleavage site, N-glycosylation, and transmembrane region. Furthermore, we probed the L, M, and S segments of other viruses from sequencing data of other tick pools by using the putative M segment sequence of QHLV3. By revealing the viromes of D. nuttalli ticks, this study enhances our understanding of tick-borne viral communities in highland regions. The putative M segment identified in a novel uukuvirus suggests that previously identified uukuviruses without M segments should have had the same genome organization as typical bunyaviruses. These findings will facilitate virus discovery and our understanding of the phylogeny of tick-borne uukuviruses.
- Dermacentor nuttalli
- , Qīnghă
- , i Province
- , Virome
- , Uukuvirus
- , M segment

Electronic Supplementary Material

10.1016j.virs.2024.04.006-ESM.docx
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