Project description:Long-read sequencing (LRS) has become a standard approach for transcriptome analysis in recent years. Bovine alphaherpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) is an important pathogen of cattle worldwide. This study reports the profiling of the dynamic lytic transcriptome of BoHV-1 using two long-read sequencing (LRS) techniques, the Oxford Nanopore Technologies MinION, and the LoopSeq synthetic LRS methods, using multiple library preparation protocols. In this work, we annotated viral mRNAs and non-coding transcripts, and a large number of transcript isoforms, including transcription start and end sites, as well as splice variants of BoHV-1. Our analysis demonstrated an extremely complex pattern of transcriptional overlaps.
Project description:In this work, a long-read sequencing (LRS) technique based on the Oxford Nanopore Technology MinION platform was used for quantifying and kinetic characterization of the poly(A) fraction of bovine alphaherpesvirus type 1 (BoHV-1) lytic transcriptome across a 12-h infection period. Amplification-based LRS techniques frequently generate artefactual transcription reads and are biased towards the production of shorter amplicons. To avoid these undesired effects, we applied direct cDNA sequencing, an amplification-free technique. Here, we show that a single promoter can produce multiple transcription start sites whose distribution patterns differ among the viral genes but are similar in the same gene at different timepoints. Our investigations revealed that the circ gene is expressed with immediate-early (IE) kinetics by utilizing a special mechanism based on the use of the promoter of another IE gene (bicp4) for the transcriptional control. Furthermore, we detected an overlap between the initiation of DNA replication and the transcription from the bicp22 gene, which suggests an interaction between the two molecular machineries. This study developed a generally applicable LRS-based method for the time-course characterization of transcriptomes of any organism.
Project description:We present the complete genome sequence of bovine alphaherpesvirus 2 (BoHV-2), a member of the family Herpesviridae, subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae, genus Simplexvirus. BoHV-2 is the causative agent of bovine ulcerative mammillitis (bovine herpes mammillitis) and pseudo-lumpy skin disease. The genomic architecture of BoHV-2 is typical of most simplexvirus genomes and congruent with that of human alphaherpesvirus 1 (HHV-1). The genome comprises a total of 131,245 base pairs and has an overall G+C content of 64.9 mol%. A total of 75 open reading frames are predicted. The gene repertoire of BoHV-2 is analogous to that of HHV-1, although the coding region of US12 is missing. A phylogenetic analysis supported BoHV-2 as a member of the genus Simplexvirus.
Project description:Homologous recombination between strains of the same alphaherpesvirus species occurs frequently both in vitro and in vivo. This process has been described between strains of herpes simplex virus type 1, herpes simplex virus type 2, pseudorabies virus, feline herpesvirus 1, varicella-zoster virus, and bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1). In vivo, the rise of recombinant viruses can be modulated by different factors, such as the dose of the inoculated viruses, the distance between inoculation sites, the time interval between inoculation of the first and the second virus, and the genes in which the mutations are located. The effect of the time interval between infections with two distinguishable BoHV-1 on recombination was studied in three ways: (i) recombination at the level of progeny viruses, (ii) interference induced by the first virus infection on beta-galactosidase gene expression of a superinfecting virus, and (iii) recombination at the level of concatemeric DNA. A time interval of 2 to 8 h between two successive infections allows the establishment of a barrier, which reduces or prevents any successful superinfection needed to generate recombinant viruses. The dramatic effect of the time interval on the rise of recombinant viruses is particularly important for the risk assessment of recombination between glycoprotein E-negative marker vaccine and field strains that could threaten BoHV-1 control and eradication programs.
Project description:Bovine alphaherpesvirus 1 (BoAHV-1), the pathogen causing Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) and predisposing to polymicrobial infections in cattle, provokes farm economic losses and trading restrictions in the world. However, nontoxic antiviral agents for BoAHV-1 infection are still unavailable, but plant extracts, such as flavonoid derivatives possess activity against BoAHV-1. Taurisolo®, a nutraceutical produced by Aglianico grape pomace, has recently shown promising antiviral activity. Herein, the potential activity of Taurisolo® during BoAHV-1 infection in Madin Darby bovine kidney (MDBK) cells was tested. Taurisolo® enhanced cell viability and reduced morphological death signs in BoAHV-1-infected cells. Moreover, Taurisolo® influenced the expression of bICP0, the key regulatory protein of BoAHV-1, and it strongly diminished virus yield. These effects were associated with an up-regulation of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a transcription factor involved in microbial metabolism and immune response. In conclusion, our findings indicate that Taurisolo® may represent a potential antiviral agent against BoAHV-1 infection. Noteworthy, AhR could be involved in the observed effects and become a new target in antiviral therapy.
Project description:BackgroundInfectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) caused by bovine alphaherpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) is one of the most important contagious diseases in bovine. This is one of the most common infectious disease of cattle. This has led to high economic losses in the cattle farming industry. BoHV-1 can potentially be transmitted via semen during natural or artificial insemination (AI). Therefore, testing methods for the early diagnosis of BoHV-1 infection are urgently needed for international trade of ruminant semen. In this study, we developed a novel droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assay for the detection of BoHV-1 DNA in semen samples.ResultsThe ddPCR results showed that the detection limit was 4.45 copies per reaction with high reproducibility. The established method was highly specific for BoHV-1 and did not show cross-reactivity with specify the organisms (BTV, BVDV, Brucella, M . bovis). The results of clinical sample testing showed that the positivity rate of ddPCR (87.8%) was higher than that of qPCR (84.1%).ConclusionsThe ddPCR assay showed good accuracy for mixed samples and could be a new added diagnostic tool for detecting BoHV-1.
Project description:European regulations on the control of infectious diseases provide measures to control Bovine alphaherpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) infection in both cattle and buffalo. Owing to the reported serological cross-reactivity between BoHV-1 and Bubaline alphaherpesvirus 1 (BuHV-1), we hypothesized a new immunization protocol using BoHV-1 gE-deleted marker vaccines could protect water buffalo against BuHV-1. Five water buffaloes devoid of BoHV-1/BuHV-1-neutralizing antibodies were immunized with two commercial BoHV-1 gE-deleted marker vaccines at 0, 30, 210, and 240 post-vaccination days (PVDs). Five additional water buffaloes were used as controls. At 270 PVD (0 post-challenge days (PCDs), all animals were challenged intranasally with wild-type (wt) BuHV-1. The vaccinated animals produced humoral immunity (HI) as early as PVD 30 whereas, in control animals, antibodies were detected on PCD 10. After challenge infection, HI significantly increased in vaccinated animals compared to that in controls. Real-time PCR for gB revealed viral shedding in vaccinated animals from PCDs 2 to 10. In contrast, positive results were observed from PCDs 2 to 15 in the unvaccinated control group. Although the findings indicated the possible protection capabilities of the tested protocol, these findings did not support its protective roles in water buffaloes against wt-BuHV-1.
Project description:This study examines the genes coding for enzymes involved in bovine milk oligosaccharide metabolism by comparing the oligosaccharide profiles with the expressions of glycosylation-related genes. Fresh milk samples (n?=?32) were collected from four Holstein and Jersey cows at days 1, 15, 90 and 250 of lactation and free milk oligosaccharide profiles were analyzed. RNA was extracted from milk somatic cells at days 15 and 250 of lactation (n?=?12) and gene expression analysis was conducted by RNA-Sequencing. A list was created of 121 glycosylation-related genes involved in oligosaccharide metabolism pathways in bovine by analyzing the oligosaccharide profiles and performing an extensive literature search. No significant differences were observed in either oligosaccharide profiles or expressions of glycosylation-related genes between Holstein and Jersey cows. The highest concentrations of free oligosaccharides were observed in the colostrum samples and a sharp decrease was observed in the concentration of free oligosaccharides on day 15, followed by progressive decrease on days 90 and 250. Ninety-two glycosylation-related genes were expressed in milk somatic cells. Most of these genes exhibited higher expression in day 250 samples indicating increases in net glycosylation-related metabolism in spite of decreases in free milk oligosaccharides in late lactation milk. Even though fucosylated free oligosaccharides were not identified, gene expression indicated the likely presence of fucosylated oligosaccharides in bovine milk. Fucosidase genes were expressed in milk and a possible explanation for not detecting fucosylated free oligosaccharides is the degradation of large fucosylated free oligosaccharides by the fucosidases. Detailed characterization of enzymes encoded by the 92 glycosylation-related genes identified in this study will provide the basic knowledge for metabolic network analysis of oligosaccharides in mammalian milk. These candidate genes will guide the design of a targeted breeding strategy to optimize the content of beneficial oligosaccharides in bovine milk.
Project description:BACKGROUND: Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), the major species of farmed shrimps in the world, has been attracting extensive studies, which require more and more genome background knowledge. The now available transcriptome data of L. vannamei are insufficient for research requirements, and have not been adequately assembled and annotated. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This is the first study that used a next-generation high-throughput DNA sequencing technique, the Solexa/Illumina GA II method, to analyze the transcriptome from whole bodies of L. vannamei larvae. More than 2.4 Gb of raw data were generated, and 109,169 unigenes with a mean length of 396 bp were assembled using the SOAP denovo software. 73,505 unigenes (>200 bp) with good quality sequences were selected and subjected to annotation analysis, among which 37.80% can be matched in NCBI Nr database, 37.3% matched in Swissprot, and 44.1% matched in TrEMBL. Using BLAST and BLAST2Go softwares, 11,153 unigenes were classified into 25 Clusters of Orthologous Groups of proteins (COG) categories, 8171 unigenes were assigned into 51 Gene ontology (GO) functional groups, and 18,154 unigenes were divided into 220 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. To primarily verify part of the results of assembly and annotations, 12 assembled unigenes that are homologous to many embryo development-related genes were chosen and subjected to RT-PCR for electrophoresis and Sanger sequencing analyses, and to real-time PCR for expression profile analyses during embryo development. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The L. vannamei transcriptome analyzed using the next-generation sequencing technique enriches the information of L. vannamei genes, which will facilitate our understanding of the genome background of crustaceans, and promote the studies on L. vannamei.
Project description:The in vivo rat model is a workhorse in neuroscience research, preclinical studies and drug development. A repertoire of MR tools has been developed for its investigation; however, high levels of B0 magnetic field homogeneity are required for meaningful results. The homogenization of magnetic fields in the rat brain, i.e. shimming, is a difficult task because of a multitude of complex, susceptibility-induced field distortions. Conventional shimming with spherical harmonic (SH) functions is capable of compensating for shallow field distortions in limited areas, e.g. in the cortex, but performs poorly in difficult-to-shim subcortical structures or for the entire brain. Based on the recently introduced multi-coil approach for magnetic field modeling, the DYNAmic Multi-coIl TEchnique (DYNAMITE) is introduced for magnetic field shimming of the in vivo rat brain and its benefits for gradient-echo echo-planar imaging (EPI) are demonstrated. An integrated multi-coil/radiofrequency (MC/RF) system comprising 48 individual localized DC coils for B0 shimming and a surface transceive RF coil has been developed that allows MR investigations of the anesthetized rat brain in vivo. DYNAMITE shimming with this MC/RF set-up is shown to reduce the B0 standard deviation to a third of that achieved with current shim technology employing static first- through third-order SH shapes. The EPI signal over the rat brain increased by 31%, and a 24% gain in usable EPI voxels could be realized. DYNAMITE shimming is expected to critically benefit a wide range of preclinical and neuroscientific MR research. Improved magnetic field homogeneity, together with the achievable large brain coverage of this method, will be crucial when signal pathways, cortical circuitry or the brain's default network are studied. Together with the efficiency gains of MC-based shimming compared with SH approaches demonstrated recently, DYNAMITE shimming has the potential to replace conventional SH shim systems in small-bore animal scanners.