Viromics of extant insect orders unveil the evolution of the flavi-like superfamily.

ABSTRACT: Insects are the most diversified and species-rich group of animals and harbor an immense diversity of viruses. Several taxa in the flavi-like superfamily, such as the genus Flavivirus, are associated with insects; however, systematic studies on insect virus genetic diversity are lacking, limiting our understanding of the evolution of the flavi-like superfamily. Here, we examined the diversity of flavi-like viruses within the most complete and up-to-date insect transcriptome collection comprising 1,243 insect species by employing a Flaviviridae RdRp profile hidden Markov model search. We identified seventy-six viral sequences in sixty-one species belonging to seventeen insect, one entognathan, and one arachnidan orders. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that twenty-seven sequence

SUBMITTER: Paraskevopoulou S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8129625 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature