title: Almendravirus: A Proposed New Genus of Rhabdoviruses Isolated from Mosquitoes in Tropical Regions of the Americas.
abstract: The Rhabdoviridae is a diverse family of negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses, many of which infect vertebrate hosts and are transmitted by hematophagous arthropods. Others appear to be arthropod specific, circulating only within arthropod populations. Herein, we report the isolation and characterization of three novel viruses from mosquitoes collected from the Americas. Coot Bay virus was isolated from Anopheles quadrimaculatus mosquitoes collected in the Everglades National Park, Florida; Rio Chico virus was isolated from Anopheles triannulatus mosquitoes collected in Panama; and Balsa virus was isolated from two pools of Culex erraticus mosquitoes collected in Colombia. Sequence analysis indicated that the viruses share a similar genome organization to Arboretum virus and Puerto Almendras virus that had previously been isolated from mosquitoes collected in Peru. Each genome features the five canonical rhabdovirus structural protein genes as well as a gene encoding a class 1A viroporin-like protein (U1) located between the G and L genes (3'-N-P-M-G-U1-L-5'). Phylogenetic analysis of complete L protein sequences indicated that all five viruses cluster in a unique clade that is relatively deeply rooted in the ancestry of animal rhabdoviruses. The failure of all viruses in this clade to grow in newborn mice or vertebrate cells in culture suggests that they may be poorly adapted to replication in vertebrates.
authors: Programa de Estudio y Control de Enfermedades Tropicales (PECET), Sede de Investigacion Universitaria (SIU), Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia.|Grupo de Investigacion en Sistematica Molecular (GSM), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellin, Colombia.
authors: Maria Angelica
authors: MA
authors: Contreras
authors: Griffin Arbovirus Laboratory, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York.
authors: Gillian
authors: G
authors: Eastwood
authors: Department of Pathology, Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Center for Tropical Diseases, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.
authors: Hilda
authors: H
authors: Guzman
authors: Department of Pathology, Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Center for Tropical Diseases, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.
authors: Vsevolod
authors: V
authors: Popov
authors: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors: Chelsea
authors: C
authors: Savit
authors: Grupo de Investigacion en Sistematica Molecular (GSM), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellin, Colombia.
authors: Sandra
authors: S
authors: Uribe
authors: Griffin Arbovirus Laboratory, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York.
authors: Laura D
authors: LD
authors: Kramer
authors: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.
authors: Thomas G
authors: TG
authors: Wood
authors: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.
authors: Steven G
authors: SG
authors: Widen
authors: Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors: Durland
authors: D
authors: Fish
authors: Department of Pathology, Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Center for Tropical Diseases, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.
authors: Robert B
authors: RB
authors: Tesh
authors: Department of Pathology, Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Center for Tropical Diseases, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. peter.walker@uq.edu.au nivasila@utmb.edu.
authors: Nikos
authors: N
authors: Vasilakis
authors: CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Australia. peter.walker@uq.edu.au nivasila@utmb.edu.|School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.
authors: Peter J
authors: PJ
authors: Walker
mesh_terms: D000569:Americas; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling; D002965:Classification; D009033:Culicidae / Q000821:virology*; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D016679:Genome, Viral; D051379:Mice; D010802:Phylogeny; D012209:Rhabdoviridae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014329:Tropical Climate; D014764:Viral Proteins
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins