title: Discovery and characterisation of a new insect-specific bunyavirus from Culex mosquitoes captured in northern Australia.
abstract: Insect-specific viruses belonging to significant arboviral families have recently been discovered. These viruses appear to be maintained within the insect population without the requirement for replication in a vertebrate host. Mosquitoes collected from Badu Island in the Torres Strait in 2003 were analysed for insect-specific viruses. A novel bunyavirus was isolated in high prevalence from Culex spp. The new virus, provisionally called Badu virus (BADUV), replicated in mosquito cells of both Culex and Aedes origin, but failed to replicate in vertebrate cells. Genomic sequencing revealed that the virus was distinct from sequenced bunyavirus isolates reported to date, but phylogenetically clustered most closely with recently discovered mosquito-borne, insect-specific bunyaviruses in the newly proposed Goukovirus genus. The detection of a functional furin cleavage motif upstream of the two glycoproteins in the M segment-encoded polyprotein suggests that BADUV may employ a unique strategy to process the virion glycoproteins.
authors.affiliation: Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: j.peters2@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Jody
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hobson-Peters
authors.affiliation: Public Health Virology Forensic and Scientific Services, Department of Health, Queensland Government, PO Box 594, Archerfield, Queensland 4108, 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 4072, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Breeanna J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: McLean
authors.affiliation: Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, 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 4072, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Agathe M G
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Colmant
authors.affiliation: Public Health Virology Forensic and Scientific Services, Department of Health, Queensland Government, PO Box 594, Archerfield, Queensland 4108, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: van den Hurk
authors.affiliation: Public Health Virology Forensic and Scientific Services, Department of Health, Queensland Government, PO Box 594, Archerfield, Queensland 4108, Australia.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hall-Mendelin
authors.affiliation: Protein Discovery Centre, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, 300 Herston Road, Herston, QLD 4006, Australia.
authors.forename: Marcus L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hastie
authors.affiliation: Protein Discovery Centre, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, 300 Herston Road, Herston, QLD 4006, Australia.
authors.forename: Jeffrey J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Gorman
authors.affiliation: Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Jessica J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.affiliation: Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Natalie A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Prow
authors.affiliation: Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Ross T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Barnard
authors.affiliation: Lottery West State Biomedical Facility - Genomics, School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, 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: Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Cheryl A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Johansen
authors.affiliation: Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: roy.hall@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Roy A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hall
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D003465:Culex / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016851:Orthobunyavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity; D014779:Virus Replication
keywords: Bunyavirus; Goukovirus; Insect-specific; Mosquito; Mosquito-specific