title: A new species of mesonivirus from the Northern Territory, Australia.
abstract: Here we describe Casuarina virus (CASV), a new virus in the family Mesoniviridae. This is the first report of a mesonivirus in Australia, which extends the geographical range of this virus family to 3 continents. The virus was isolated in 2010 from Coquillettidia xanthogaster mosquitoes during surveillance in the suburbs of Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory. Cryo-electron microscopy of the CASV virions revealed spherical particles of 65 nm in size with large club-shaped projections of approximately 15 nm in length. The new virus was most closely related to Alphamesonivirus 1, the only currently recognized species in the family. In 2013 a further 5 putative new mesonivirus species were described: Hana, Méno, Nsé, Moumo and Dak Nong viruses. The evolutionary distance between CASV and two of its closest relatives, Cavally and Hana viruses (Jones-Taylor-Thornton distance of 0.151 and 0.224, respectively), along with its isolation from a different genus of mosquitoes captured on a separate continent indicate that CASV is a new species.
authors.affiliation: Public Health Virology Laboratory, Forensic and Scientific Services, Department of Health, Archerfield, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Warrilow
authors.affiliation: Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Watterson
authors.affiliation: Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Roy A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.affiliation: Berrimah Veterinary Labs, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Steven S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Berrimah Veterinary Labs, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Weir
authors.affiliation: Centre for Disease Control, Health Protection Division, Northern Territory Department of Health, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kurucz
authors.affiliation: Centre for Disease Control, Health Protection Division, Northern Territory Department of Health, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Whelan
authors.affiliation: LotteryWest State Biomedical Facility, Genomics, School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia; Department of Clinical Immunology, Pathwest Laboratory Medicine Western Australia, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Allcock
authors.affiliation: Public Health Virology Laboratory, Forensic and Scientific Services, Department of Health, Archerfield, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hall-Mendelin
authors.affiliation: Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Caitlin A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.affiliation: Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Jody
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hobson-Peters
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D003198:Computer Simulation; D020285:Cryoelectron Microscopy; D009033:Culicidae / Q000166:cytology / Q000648:ultrastructure / Q000821:virology; D028381:Nidovirales / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015876:Northern Territory; D010802:Phylogeny; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D014771:Virion / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase