State Key Laboratory of Virology and National Virus Resource Center, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
Virol Sin. 2021 Aug;36(4):623-635. doi: 10.1007/s12250-020-00319-x. Epub 2021 Jan 5.
Ticks are well known as vectors of many viruses which usually do great harm to human and animal health. Yunnan Province, widely covered by flourishing vegetation and mainly relying on farming husbandry, is abundant with Rhipicephalus microplus ticks. Therefore, it is of great significance to characterize the viral profile present in R. microplus parasitizing on cattle in Yunnan Province. In this study, a total of 7387 R. microplus ticks were collected from cattle and buffalo in the northwest and southeast areas of Yunnan Province from 2015 to 2017. We investigated the virome of R. microplus using next-generation sequencing (NGS) and the prevalence of important identified viruses among tick groups by RT-PCR. It revealed the presence of diverse virus concerning chu-, rhabdo-, phlebo-, flavi- and parvo- viruses in Yunnan. These viruses consist of single-stranded, circular and segmented sense RNAs, showing a greatly diversity in genomic organization. Furthermore, continuous epidemiological survey among ticks reveals broad prevalence of three viruses (Yunnan mivirus 1, Wuhan tick vrius 1 and YN tick-associated phlebovirus 1) and two possible prevalent viruses including a flavivirus-like segmented virus (Jingmen tick virus) and a bovine hokovirus 2 in Yunnan. Serological investigation among cattle indicates that these identified viruses may be infectious to cattle and can elicit corresponding antibody. Our findings on R. microplus-associated viral community will contribute to the prevention of viral disease and tracking the viral evolution. Further analysis is needed to better elucidate the pathogenicity and natural circulation of these viruses.
蜱虫作为许多病毒的载体而广为人知，这些病毒通常对人类和动物的健康造成严重危害。云南省植被茂盛，以农牧业为主，广泛分布着嗜群血蜱。因此，对云南省寄生在牛身上的嗜群血蜱携带的病毒谱进行特征描述具有重要意义。本研究于 2015 年至 2017 年从云南省西北和东南地区的牛和水牛身上共采集了 7387 只嗜群血蜱。我们采用下一代测序（NGS）技术研究了嗜群血蜱的病毒组，并通过 RT-PCR 检测了重要鉴定病毒在蜱群中的流行情况。结果显示，云南存在多种呼肠孤、弹状、血吸、黄病毒和细小病毒，这些病毒由单链、环状和分段的 sense RNA 组成，基因组组织具有很大的多样性。此外，对蜱虫的连续流行病学调查显示，三种病毒（云南 mivirus 1、武汉 tick vrius 1 和 YN tick-associated phlebovirus 1）和两种可能流行的病毒（一种类似黄病毒的分段病毒[荆门 tick virus]和一种牛疱疹病毒 2）在云南的流行率较高。对牛的血清学调查表明，这些鉴定出的病毒可能对牛具有传染性，并能引发相应的抗体。我们对嗜群血蜱相关病毒群的研究将有助于预防病毒病和跟踪病毒的进化。需要进一步分析以更好地阐明这些病毒的致病性和自然循环。
