Viruses-BaselPub Date : 2025-09-07DOI: 10.3390/v17091219
Michael Winter, Dirk Boecker, Wilfried Posch
{"title":"Hypochlorous Acid (HOCl) as a Promising Respiratory Antiseptic.","authors":"Michael Winter, Dirk Boecker, Wilfried Posch","doi":"10.3390/v17091219","DOIUrl":"10.3390/v17091219","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted unprecedented pressure on communities and healthcare systems around the world. An outstandingly broad and intensive investigation of possible therapeutic interventions is currently taking place to prevent similar future threats to the global population. Investigating the related mechanisms of action is often complex and time consuming. Moreover, research on biochemical interactions of new drugs involves a considerable amount of effort, consequently bearing inherent financial and operational risks for pharmaceutical companies. An interesting approach to counteract colonization and infection is the concept of antiseptic treatment in vivo. Antiseptics are cost-effective and globally accessible, due to their ease of production, transportation and handling. A broad spectrum of active agents with different properties is readily available. One of these substances is hypochlorous acid (HOCl), which is also a naturally occurring biocidal agent and as such part of the innate immune system. Its successful history of medical use in wound treatment, combined with low cytotoxicity and documented efficacy against various pathogens, suggests that HOCl might be an effective agent for treating the respiratory mucosa. This could potentially enable therapeutic inhalation for combating bacterial infections and viral pathogens such as human respiratory syncytial, influenza, and SARS-CoV-2 viruses, which will be discussed in the present article.</p>","PeriodicalId":49328,"journal":{"name":"Viruses-Basel","volume":"17 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12474219/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145180015","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Viruses-BaselPub Date : 2025-09-07DOI: 10.3390/v17091221
Eaftekhar Ahmed Rana, M Asaduzzaman Prodhan, Joshua W Aleri, Syeda Hasina Akter, Henry Annandale, Sam Abraham, Subir Sarker, Jully Gogoi-Tiwari, Jasim Muhammad Uddin
{"title":"A Critical Review of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus: Spotlights on Host Plasticity and Potential Spillover Events.","authors":"Eaftekhar Ahmed Rana, M Asaduzzaman Prodhan, Joshua W Aleri, Syeda Hasina Akter, Henry Annandale, Sam Abraham, Subir Sarker, Jully Gogoi-Tiwari, Jasim Muhammad Uddin","doi":"10.3390/v17091221","DOIUrl":"10.3390/v17091221","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infects a wide range of domestic and wild mammals. This review hypothesized that there might be cross-species transmission of BVDV. Therefore, the aim was to explore the BVDV-5' UTR and N-pro sequence-based evidence to understand host plasticity among different animals. A total of 146 unique BVDV sequences retrieved from GenBank, originating from 12 distinct mammalian species that are submitted from 55 countries, were analyzed. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that all three BVDV species exhibited genetic relatedness infecting diverse animal species. BVDV-1 sequences obtained from cattle, buffalo, and pigs and BVDV-2 and HoBi-like pestivirus sequences from cattle, goats, and sheep showed a genetic resemblance. Surprisingly, cattle and buffalo in China, cattle and yak in Mongolia, cattle and wild boar in Serbia, cattle and deer in Mexico, cattle and alpacas in Canada, goats and pigs in the USA, and sheep and buffalo in Argentina were infected with BVDV-1 within the same county and strongly positioned in the same cluster, indicating potential spillover with host tropism. Moreover, BVDV sequences isolated from various neighboring countries clustered closely, suggesting potential cross-border transmission events. Based on genomic evidence, the BVDV transmission cycle could be depicted, where cattle act as a primary source of infection, while other domestic and wild animals maintain the infection ecology within their habitat due to virus tropism.</p>","PeriodicalId":49328,"journal":{"name":"Viruses-Basel","volume":"17 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12474344/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145179907","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Viruses-BaselPub Date : 2025-09-07DOI: 10.3390/v17091220
Keerthihan Thiyagarajah, Sascha Hein, Jan Raupach, Nirmal Adeel, Johannes Miller, Maximilian Knapp, Christoph Welsch, Mirco Glitscher, Esra Görgülü, Philipp Stoffers, Pia Lembeck, Jonel Trebicka, Sandra Ciesek, Kai-Henrik Peiffer, Eberhard Hildt
{"title":"Generation and Characterization of HDV-Specific Antisera with Respect to Their Application as Specific and Sensitive Research and Diagnostic Tools.","authors":"Keerthihan Thiyagarajah, Sascha Hein, Jan Raupach, Nirmal Adeel, Johannes Miller, Maximilian Knapp, Christoph Welsch, Mirco Glitscher, Esra Görgülü, Philipp Stoffers, Pia Lembeck, Jonel Trebicka, Sandra Ciesek, Kai-Henrik Peiffer, Eberhard Hildt","doi":"10.3390/v17091220","DOIUrl":"10.3390/v17091220","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The hepatitis D virus (HDV) is a small, defective RNA virus that induces the most severe form of viral hepatitis. Despite its severity, HDV infections are under-diagnosed due to non-standardized and costly diagnostic screening methods. However, limited research has been conducted on characterizing HDV-specific antibodies as alternative tools for diagnosis. Thus, we generated HDV-specific, polyclonal antibodies by immunizing rabbits with the HDV protein, small hepatitis delta antigen (SHDAg), in its oligomeric or denatured form. We identified SHDAg-specific linear epitopes by peptide array analysis and compared them to epitopes identified in HDV-infected patients. Using in silico structural analysis, we show that certain highly immunogenic domains in SHDAg, such as the coiled-coil domain, are masked in the oligomeric conformation of the protein; others, such as the second arginine-rich motif, are exposed. The nuclear localization signal is presumably exposed only by specific interaction of oligomeric HDAg with the HDV-RNA genome. Through surface plasmon resonance analysis, we identified two polyclonal antibodies derived from rabbit antisera with affinities in the lower nanomolar range. These antibodies were used to establish an ELISA that can quantitatively detect HDV virions in vitro and upon further optimization could be used as a promising alternative diagnostic screening method.</p>","PeriodicalId":49328,"journal":{"name":"Viruses-Basel","volume":"17 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12474247/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145179939","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Viruses-BaselPub Date : 2025-09-07DOI: 10.3390/v17091225
Devin Kenney, Mao Matsuo, Giulia Unali, Alan Wacquiez, Mohsan Saeed, Florian Douam
{"title":"Comprehensive Analysis of the Impact of Weight Loss Thresholds on Mouse Models of Fatal Viral Infection.","authors":"Devin Kenney, Mao Matsuo, Giulia Unali, Alan Wacquiez, Mohsan Saeed, Florian Douam","doi":"10.3390/v17091225","DOIUrl":"10.3390/v17091225","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Preclinical studies in virological research are pivotal to comprehend mechanisms of viral virulence and pathogenesis and evaluate antiviral therapies or vaccines. Mouse models, through access to various genetic strains and amenable reagents, along with their ease of implementation and cost-effectiveness, remain the gold standard for establishing go/no-go thresholds before advancing to non-human primate or clinical studies. In preclinical mouse studies, standardized weight loss thresholds (WLTs)-which correspond to an established percentage of weight change at which animals are humanely euthanized-are a routine metric to quantitatively evaluate the lethality of a viral pathogen and the effectiveness of antiviral countermeasures in preventing fatal viral disease. While it is recognized that WLTs can significantly impact the assessment of viral virulence, they are often established to meet existing ethical or methodological requirements, rather than being based on a specific scientific rationale. Here, we examine how various experimental variables-including mouse and viral strains and the sex ratio within a mouse cohort-influence the ability of a WLT to support the generation of robust mouse models of fatal viral infection. Using various mouse strains and viral pathogens, we report that variations in experimental conditions in mouse preclinical studies can significantly compromise the performance of a non-adjusted WLT to yield an accurate estimate of viral virulence. Our findings advocate for a robust adjustment of WLT to each experimental framework and associated variables to establish mouse models of fatal viral infection that can generate high-resolution data acquisition while upholding ethical standards. Overall, our study provides methodological insights to enhance the unbiased acquisition and benchmarking of viral virulence and antiviral efficacy data in mouse models.</p>","PeriodicalId":49328,"journal":{"name":"Viruses-Basel","volume":"17 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12474137/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145179930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Viruses-BaselPub Date : 2025-09-07DOI: 10.3390/v17091226
Romchat Kraivong
{"title":"Fc-Mediated Effector Functions of Anti-NS1 Antibodies in Dengue.","authors":"Romchat Kraivong","doi":"10.3390/v17091226","DOIUrl":"10.3390/v17091226","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The non-structural protein 1 (NS1) of dengue virus (DENV) plays a multifaceted role in viral pathogenesis and immune modulation. Although vaccine strategies have traditionally focused on neutralizing antibodies against the envelope (E) protein, recent evidence highlights the protective potential of anti-NS1 antibodies-particularly those that mediate Fc-dependent effector functions. These functions include antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP), and complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC), which collectively bridge adaptive antibody responses with innate immune activation. However, the outcomes of anti-NS1 responses are context-dependent: certain antibody specificities confer protection, while others may contribute to immunopathology. In this review, I synthesize current evidence on the roles of anti-NS1 antibodies in modulating Fc receptor engagement, subclass-specific responses, glycosylation patterns, and their effector functions. Understanding these mechanisms is essential for guiding rational vaccine design and the development of antibody-based diagnostics and therapeutics. By integrating the findings from both innate and adaptive immunology, this review emphasizes the importance of NS1 as a multifunctional immune determinant in dengue virus infection.</p>","PeriodicalId":49328,"journal":{"name":"Viruses-Basel","volume":"17 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12474220/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145179943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Viruses-BaselPub Date : 2025-09-07DOI: 10.3390/v17091223
Xiaobei Chen, Jinzhi Shi, Ping Zhou, Yunyun Tian, Yajing Zheng, Tingting Liu, Yan Li, Fan Zhu
{"title":"The Role of HBx Mutations in Chronic Hepatitis B with Acute Exacerbation.","authors":"Xiaobei Chen, Jinzhi Shi, Ping Zhou, Yunyun Tian, Yajing Zheng, Tingting Liu, Yan Li, Fan Zhu","doi":"10.3390/v17091223","DOIUrl":"10.3390/v17091223","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a significant global health burden, primarily due to its chronic complications, including acute exacerbation, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and related sequelae. Acute exacerbation of chronic hepatitis B (CHB-AE) is common and often represents the earliest clinical manifestation. The Hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) (17-kDa) is not only essential for viral replication but also plays a role in the development of HCC. To investigate the role of HBx mutation in CHB-AE progression, we enrolled 33 hospitalized CHB-AE patients and 31 patients with HBV-related liver failure (controls) from mainland China between January 2017 and June 2018. Single mutation 36 of HBx was significantly more prevalent in CHB-AE patients (<i>p</i> < 0.05), whereas Joint Mutation 1 was more frequent in HBV-related liver failure patients (<i>p</i> < 0.05). HBx mutations, including Single mutation 36 and Joint Mutations 2 and 3, were significantly associated with high HBV DNA levels (<i>p</i> < 0.05), while Joint mutation 1 predominated in the low HBV DNA group (<i>p</i> < 0.01). Age-stratified analysis showed that Single mutation 36 and Joint Mutation 2 were more common in younger patients (<35 years old) (<i>p</i> < 0.05), whereas Joint mutation 1 was more frequent in older age (≥35 years old) (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Moreover, antiviral therapy markedly reduced the prevalence of Joint mutation 1 from 82.98% in treatment-naïve patients to 29.41% in treatment-experienced patients (<i>p</i> < 0.0001). These findings suggest that specific HBx mutations are associated with viral replication levels, disease progression, and patient demographics. Such mutations may serve as molecular markers for disease severity and potential therapeutic targets in both CHB-AE and HBV-related liver failure.</p>","PeriodicalId":49328,"journal":{"name":"Viruses-Basel","volume":"17 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12474432/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145179485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Viruses-BaselPub Date : 2025-09-06DOI: 10.3390/v17091217
Pauline Jourdan, Jean-Philippe Martinet, Hubert Ferté, Bruno Mathieu, Marie Vazeille, Jérôme Depaquit, Anna-Bella Failloux, Anouk Decors, Rémi Charrel
{"title":"Absence of West Nile and Usutu Virus Persistence in Overwintering Mosquitoes in Northeastern France: Insights from Cold-Season Surveillance.","authors":"Pauline Jourdan, Jean-Philippe Martinet, Hubert Ferté, Bruno Mathieu, Marie Vazeille, Jérôme Depaquit, Anna-Bella Failloux, Anouk Decors, Rémi Charrel","doi":"10.3390/v17091217","DOIUrl":"10.3390/v17091217","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Emerging arboviruses of the <i>Orthoflavivirus</i> genus such as West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV), primarily transmitted by <i>Culex</i> mosquitoes, pose significant public health threats due to their ability to cause severe neurological diseases in humans and animals. While studies in North America and Central Europe have shown that these viruses can persist in overwintering mosquitoes, their role in viral maintenance during the cold season in northeastern France remains unknown. This study aimed to assess whether overwintering female mosquitoes in this region could harbor WNV or USUV during the cold season, potentially maintaining viral circulation until the following transmission season. Between October 2021 and February 2024, a total of 10,617 overwintering female mosquitoes were collected in various types of habitats across five departments in northeastern France. The most common species was <i>Culex pipiens</i> (88%). Mosquitoes were grouped into 1121 pools (1-10 individuals each) and tested by real-time RT-PCR for WNV, USUV, and other flaviviruses using a pan-Flavivirus NS5-targeting assay. All pools tested negative, indicating no evidence of viral RNA in overwintering females. These results suggested that overwintering female mosquitoes in northeastern France do not act as reservoirs for WNV or USUV, and do not contribute to their overwintering maintenance.</p>","PeriodicalId":49328,"journal":{"name":"Viruses-Basel","volume":"17 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12474421/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145179900","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Viruses-BaselPub Date : 2025-09-06DOI: 10.3390/v17091218
Iván Ventoso
{"title":"Codon Usage Bias in Human RNA Viruses and Its Impact on Viral Translation, Fitness, and Evolution.","authors":"Iván Ventoso","doi":"10.3390/v17091218","DOIUrl":"10.3390/v17091218","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Synonymous codon usage (codon bias) greatly influences not only translation but also mRNA stability. In vertebrates, highly expressed genes preferentially use codons with an optimal tRNA adaptation index (tAI) that mostly end in C or G. Surprisingly, the codon usage of viruses infecting humans often deviates from optimality, showing an enrichment in A/U-ending codons, which are generally associated with slow decoding and reduced mRNA stability. This observation is particularly evident in RNA viruses causing respiratory illnesses in humans. This review analyzes the mutational and selective forces that shape nucleotide composition and codon usage drift in human RNA viruses, as well as their impact on translation, viral fitness, and evolution. It also describes how some viruses overcome suboptimal codon usage to outcompete host mRNA for translation. Finally, the roles of viral tropism and host adaptation in codon usage bias of prototypical viruses are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":49328,"journal":{"name":"Viruses-Basel","volume":"17 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12474380/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145179493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Tixagevimab-Cilgavimab Effectively Prevents COVID-19 Infection in Patients with End-Stage Kidney Disease.","authors":"Noppakao Kongtal, Watchara Pichitsiri, Supinda Sirilak, Anyarin Wannakittirat, Busakorn Sontham, Sagoontee Inkate, Theerachai Thammathiwat","doi":"10.3390/v17091216","DOIUrl":"10.3390/v17091216","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) often exhibit suboptimal responses to COVID-19 vaccination. Tixagevimab-Cilgavimab, a neutralizing long-acting antibody (LAAB), has demonstrated effectiveness in preventing severe COVID-19 and hospitalization among immunocompromised populations. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Tixagevimab-Cilgavimab in ESKD patients receiving hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, or kidney transplantation. This single-center, retrospective cohort study was conducted at Naresuan University Hospital, Phitsanulok, Thailand, and included patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) receiving maintenance hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, or kidney transplantation between June 2022 and June 2023, during the peak of the Omicron variant. Patients who received a single 150/150 mg dose of Tixagevimab-Cilgavimab were compared to those who did not, in terms of time to first COVID-19 infection and hospitalization within 6 months. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate associations, adjusted for age, sex, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, serum creatinine, number of COVID-19 vaccine doses, and prior COVID-19 infection. Safety was assessed by comparing creatine kinase (CK) levels before and after treatment using generalized estimating equations (GEE). Of 117 patients, 58 received Tixagevimab-Cilgavimab (mean age 59 ± 15 years); 92% were on dialysis and 8% had undergone kidney transplantation. COVID-19 infection occurred in 10.3% of the LAAB group versus 11.9% in the control group. In the adjusted Cox model, LAAB use was significantly associated with a reduced risk of COVID-19 infection (adjusted HR: 0.20; 95% CI: 0.04-0.95; <i>p</i> = 0.043). No variables were significantly associated with hospitalization, although LAAB use showed a non-significant trend toward reduced hospitalization risk (adjusted HR: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.01-1.56; <i>p</i> = 0.096). No local or systemic adverse effects were reported. CK levels remained unchanged after administration. Tixagevimab-Cilgavimab was effective in reducing the risk of COVID-19 infection among ESKD patients, without evidence of adverse effects, supporting its use as a prophylactic agent in this high-risk population.</p>","PeriodicalId":49328,"journal":{"name":"Viruses-Basel","volume":"17 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12474474/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145180000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Viruses-BaselPub Date : 2025-09-05DOI: 10.3390/v17091213
Aamir Lal, Muhammad Amir Qureshi, Man-Cheol Son, Sukchan Lee, Eui-Joon Kil
{"title":"Construction and Segmental Reconstitution of Full-Length Infectious Clones of Milk Vetch Dwarf Virus.","authors":"Aamir Lal, Muhammad Amir Qureshi, Man-Cheol Son, Sukchan Lee, Eui-Joon Kil","doi":"10.3390/v17091213","DOIUrl":"10.3390/v17091213","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The construction of infectious clones (ICs) is essential for studying viral replication, pathogenesis, and host interactions. Milk vetch dwarf virus (MDV), a nanovirus with a multipartite, single-stranded DNA genome, presents unique challenges for IC development due to its segmented genome organization. To enable functional analysis of its genome, we constructed full-length tandem-dimer-based ICs for all eight MDV genomic segments. Each segment was cloned into a binary vector and co-delivered into <i>Nicotiana benthamiana</i>, <i>Nicotiana tabacum</i>, <i>Vicia faba</i>, and <i>Vigna unguiculata</i> plants via <i>Agrobacterium</i>-mediated inoculation. Systemic infection was successfully reconstituted in all host plants, with PCR-based detection confirming the presence of all viral segments in the infected leaves of nearly all tested plants. Segmental accumulation in infected plants was quantified using qPCR, revealing non-equimolar distribution across hosts. This study establishes the first complete IC system for MDV, enabling reproducible infection, replication analysis, and quantitative segment profiling. It provides a foundational tool for future molecular investigations into MDV replication, host interactions, and viral movement, advancing our understanding of nanovirus biology and transmission dynamics.</p>","PeriodicalId":49328,"journal":{"name":"Viruses-Basel","volume":"17 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12474453/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145179870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}