Hunting Drosophila viruses from wild populations: A novel isolation approach and characterisation of viruses.

ABSTRACT: Metagenomic studies have demonstrated that viruses are extremely diverse and abundant in insects, but the difficulty of isolating them means little is known about the biology of these newly discovered viruses. To overcome this challenge in Drosophila, we created a cell line that was more permissive to infection and detected novel viruses by the presence of double-stranded RNA. We demonstrate the utility of these tools by isolating La Jolla virus (LJV) and Newfield virus (NFV) from several wild Drosophila populations. These viruses have different potential host ranges, with distinct abilities to replicate in five Drosophila species. Similarly, in some species they cause high mortality and in others they are comparatively benign. In three species, NFV but not LJV caused large declines in fem

SUBMITTER: Bruner-Montero G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10109509 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature