title: Characterization of a novel flavivirus from mosquitoes in northern europe that is related to mosquito-borne flaviviruses of the tropics.
abstract: A novel flavivirus was isolated from mosquitoes in Finland, representing the first mosquito-borne flavivirus from Northern Europe. The isolate, designated Lammi virus (LAMV), was antigenically cross-reactive with other flaviviruses and exhibited typical flavivirus morphology as determined by electron microscopy. The genomic sequence of LAMV was highly divergent from the recognized flaviviruses, and yet the polyprotein properties resembled those of mosquito-borne flaviviruses. Phylogenetic analysis of the complete coding sequence showed that LAMV represented a distinct lineage related to the Aedes sp.-transmitted human pathogenic flaviviruses, similarly to the newly described Nounané virus (NOUV), a flavivirus from Africa (S. Junglen et al., J. Virol. 83:4462-4468, 2009). Despite the low sequence homology, LAMV and NOUV were phylogenetically grouped closely, likely representing separate species of a novel group of flaviviruses. Despite the biological properties preferring replication in mosquito cells, the genetic relatedness of LAMV to viruses associated with vertebrate hosts warrants a search for disease associations.
authors: Department of Virology, Haartman Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland. eili.huhtamo@helsinki.fi
authors: Eili
authors: E
authors: Huhtamo
authors: Niina
authors: N
authors: Putkuri
authors: Satu
authors: S
authors: Kurkela
authors: Tytti
authors: T
authors: Manni
authors: Antti
authors: A
authors: Vaheri
authors: Olli
authors: O
authors: Vapalahti
authors: Nathalie Y
authors: NY
authors: Uzcátegui
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D000818:Animals; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops / Q000821:virology*; D003429:Cross Reactions / Q000276:immunology; D005060:Europe; D005387:Finland; D005416:Flavivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D014329:Tropical Climate