Project description:Zoonoses pose substantial global health risks, highlighting the need to better understand animal-to-human transmission. Reptiles are increasingly recognized as hosts of diverse pathogens, including many viruses. Despite this, reptile pathogens remain poorly understood in terms of their diversity, prevalence, and potential risk to humans. Yet human–reptile contact is increasing, driven in part by the global wildlife trade and pet industry. This underscores the need to better understand reptile-associated pathogens; however, models to study reptile viruses remain scarce. Here, we establish and characterize airway organoids derived from Python regius, providing an in vitro model of the reptile airway. Through de novo assembly of a Python regius reference genome, we characterized airway organoids at single-cell resolution, revealing diverse cell populations including ionocytes, ciliated, goblet, club, endocrine, tuft, and basal cells. The organoids supported productive infection with ball python nidovirus (BPNV) and mounted a robust epithelial antiviral response through induction of interferon-stimulated genes, cytokines and genes involved in chemical defense. As a proof-of-concept, antiviral drug treatment reduced BPNV levels, highlighting the model's utility for drug testing. By providing a reductionist system of the serpentine airway, these organoids constitute a physiologically relevant in vitro model to study reptile viruses and host–pathogen interactions in the native host. This system has potential veterinary applications, ecology of serpentes, and zoonotic disease research.
Project description:Zoonoses pose substantial global health risks, highlighting the need to better understand animal-to-human transmission. Reptiles are increasingly recognized as hosts of diverse pathogens, including many viruses. Despite this, reptile pathogens remain poorly understood in terms of their diversity, prevalence, and potential risk to humans. Yet human–reptile contact is increasing, driven in part by the global wildlife trade and pet industry. This underscores the need to better understand reptile-associated pathogens; however, models to study reptile viruses remain scarce. Here, we establish and characterize airway organoids derived from Python regius, providing an in vitro model of the reptile airway. Through de novo assembly of a Python regius reference genome, we characterized airway organoids at single-cell resolution, revealing diverse cell populations including ionocytes, ciliated, goblet, club, endocrine, tuft, and basal cells. The organoids supported productive infection with ball python nidovirus (BPNV) and mounted a robust epithelial antiviral response through induction of interferon-stimulated genes, cytokines and genes involved in chemical defense. As a proof-of-concept, antiviral drug treatment reduced BPNV levels, highlighting the model's utility for drug testing. By providing a reductionist system of the serpentine airway, these organoids constitute a physiologically relevant in vitro model to study reptile viruses and host–pathogen interactions in the native host. This system has potential veterinary applications, ecology of serpentes, and zoonotic disease research.
Project description:High-throughput sequencing of RNA from secretory tissues of reptiles.Tissues were dissected from freshly-euthanised individuals and either snap-frozenin liquid nitrogen or stored short-term in RNAlater (Ambion). Total RNA was extracted from approximately 30mg of tissue using the Qiagen RNeasy Mini kit according to manufacturer instructions, with on-column DNase treatment. Typically, single whole scent glands and venom/salivary glands were used in the relevant extractions and skin samples were taken from the dorsal side at approximately mid-body level.This data is part of a pre-publication release. For information on the proper use of pre-publication data shared by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (including details of any publication moratoria), please see http://www.sanger.ac.uk/datasharing/
Project description:Metagenomics reveals that dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) broadly feed on reptile dung. Did they also feed on that of dinosaurs?