Project description:Bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) is an important disease of cattle, with significant impacts on animal health and welfare. The wide host range of the causative pestiviruses may lead to formation of virus reservoirs in other ruminant or wildlife species, presenting a concern for the long-term success of BVD eradication campaigns. It is likely that the quasispecies nature of these RNA viruses contributes to their interspecies transmission by providing genetic plasticity. Understanding the spectrum of sequence variants present in persistently infected (PI) animals is, therefore, essential for studies of virus transmission. To analyse quasispecies diversity without amplification bias, we extracted viral RNA from the serum of a PI cow, and from cell culture fluid after three passages of the same virus in culture, to produce cDNA without amplification. Sequencing of this material using Illumina 250 bp paired-read technology produced full-length virus consensus sequences from both sources and demonstrated the quasispecies diversity of this pestivirus A genotype 1a field strain within serum and after culture. We report the distribution and diversity of over 800 SNPs and provide evidence for a loss of diversity after only three passages in cell culture, implying that cultured viruses cannot be used to understand quasispecies diversity and may not provide reliable molecular markers for source tracing or transmission studies. Additionally, both serum and cultured viruses could be sequenced as a set of 25 overlapping PCR amplicons that demonstrated the same consensus sequences and the presence of many of the same quasispecies variants. The observation that aspects of the quasispecies structure revealed by massively parallel sequencing are also detected after PCR and Sanger sequencing suggests that this approach may be useful for small or difficult to analyse samples.
Project description:Viral cycle progression depends upon host-cell processes in infected cells, and this is true for bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV), the causative agent of BVD that is a worldwide threat to the bovine industry. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a ubiquitously expressed inducible isoform of the first and rate-limiting enzyme for heme degradation. Recent studies have demonstrated that HO-1 has significant antiviral properties, inhibiting the replication of viruses such as ebola virus, human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis C virus, and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus. However, the function of HO-1 in BVDV infection is unclear. In the present study, the relationship between HO-1 and BVDV was investigated. In vitro analysis of HO-1 expression in BVDV-infected MDBK cells demonstrated that a decrease in HO-1 as BVDV replication increased. Increasing HO-1 expression through adenoviral-mediated overexpression or induction with cobalt protoporphyrin (CoPP, a potent HO-1 inducer), pre- and postinfection, effectively inhibited BVDV replication. In contrast, HO-1 siRNA knockdown in BVDV-infected cells increased BVDV replication. Therefore, the data were consistent with HO-1 acting as an anti-viral factor and these findings suggested that induction of HO-1 may be a useful prevention and treatment strategy against BVDV infection.
Project description:BACKGROUND:Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) is the member of the genus Pestivirus within the Flaviviridae family and responsible for severe economic losses in the cattle industry. BVDV can employ 'infect-and-persist' strategy and 'hit-and-run' strategy to remain associated with hosts and thus contributes to BVDV circulation in cattle herds. BVDV have also evolved various strategies to evade the innate immunity of host. To further understand the mechanisms by which BVDV overcomes the host cell innate immune response and provide more clues for further understanding the BVDV-host interaction, in this descriptive study, we conducted a investigation of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of the host during BVDV infection by RNA-Seq analysis. RESULTS:Our analysis identified 1297, 1732, 3072, and 1877 DEGs in the comparison groups mock vs. MDBK cells infected with BVDV post 2 h (MBV2h), mock vs. MBV6h, mock vs. MBV12h, and mock vs. MBV24h, respectively. The reproducibility and repeatability of the results were validated by RT-qPCR. Enrichment analyses of GO annotations and KEGG pathways revealed the host DEGs that are potentially induced by BVDV infection and may participate in BVDV-host interactions. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analyses identified the potential interactions among the DEGs. Our findings suggested that BVDV infection induced the upregulation of genes involved in lipid metabolism. The expression of genes that have antiviral roles, including ISG15, Mx1, OSA1Y, were found to be downregulated and are thus potentially associated with the inhibition of host innate immune system during BVDV infection. The expression levels of F3, C1R, KNG1, CLU, C3, FB, SERPINA5, SERPINE1, C1S, F2RL2, and C2, which belong to the complement and coagulation signalling cascades, were downregulated during BVDV infection, which suggested that the complement system might play a crucial role during BVDV infection. CONCLUSION:In this descriptive study, our findings revealed the changes in the host transcriptome expression profile during BVDV infection and suggested that BVDV-infection induced altering the host's metabolic network, the inhibition of the expression of antiviral proteins and genes within the complement system might be contributed to BVDV proliferation. The above findings provided unique insights for further studies on the mechanisms underlying BVDV-host interactions.
Project description:BackgroundBovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) is a member of the genus Pestivirus that belongs to the family Flaviviridae. BVDV is found worldwide in cattle population and causes significant economic losses to the dairy and beef industries. Two distinct genotypes of BVDV exist: BVDV type 1 (BVDV-1) and BVDV type 2 (BVDV-2).ObjectiveThe aim of the present study was to investigate retrospectively the presence of BVDV-2 in Spain.ResultsWith this objective, 47 blood samples that had tested positive in an ELISA for BVDV antigen were selected. Samples had been submitted by practitioners to the Diagnostic Service of NEIKER. The 18 herds of origin were all located in the northern half of Spain. BVDV positive samples were genotyped by reverse transcription-PCR. BVDV-1 was detected with the highest frequency (46/47), in contrast to BVDV-2 (2/47). In one blood sample, both pestivirus genotypes, BVDV-1 and BVDV-2, were detected. Sequencing of a viral genomic region, 5' untranslated region, confirmed the identity of the BVDV-2 isolate.ConclusionsSo far as the authors know, this is the first reported presence of BVDV-2 in cattle herds in Spain. This finding may have important implications for the epidemiology, diagnosis and control of BVDV infection in the country.
Project description:BackgroundBovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) causes substantial economic losses to the cattle industry; however, control and eradication can be achieved by identifying and removing persistently infected cattle from the herd. Each UK nation has separate control programmes. The English scheme, BVDFree, started in 2016 and is voluntary.MethodsWe analysed the test results submitted to BVDFree from 5847 herds between 2016 and 2020.ResultsIn 2020, 13.5% of beef breeders and 20.0% of dairy herds that submitted tests had at least one positive (virus/antibody) test result. Although lower than in previous years, there was no clear trend in the proportion of positive tests over time. In virus testing herds, 0.4% of individual tests were positive in 2020, and 1.5% of individual tests were positive in BVDV-positive virus testing herds. Dairy herds and larger herds were more likely to join BVDFree, and dairy herds were also more likely to virus test than beef breeder herds. Larger herds, herds that used virus testing and herds that had BVDV-positive test results were more likely to continue submitting tests to BVDFree.ConclusionsThe findings provide a benchmark for the status of BVDV control in England; continued analysis of test results will be important to assess progress towards eradication.
Project description:Infectious diseases are serious constraints for improving livestock productivity. Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) is a virus causing grave economic losses throughout the cattle producing world. Infection is often not apparent, but the virus can also cause respiratory signs, diarrhoea, reproductive problems and immunosuppression. Risk factors for disease transmission include, but are not limited to, herd size, animal trade and grazing on communal pastures. Several prevalence studies have been conducted in southern Africa, but in Botswana the occurrence is largely unknown. In this study, blood samples were obtained from 100 goats from three villages around the capital city, Gaborone. Also, 364 blood samples from cattle around Gaborone, collected as part of another study, were analysed. The detected antibody prevalence was 0% in goats and 53.6% in cattle when using a competitive enzyme-linked immunoassay. Three animals from two different herds were positive for viral nucleic acids on polymerase chain reaction. The two herds with viraemic animals had significantly higher antibody prevalence compared to the other herds. Also, two of the detected viruses were sequenced and found to be most similar to BVDV-1a. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first time that sequencing has been performed on BVDV isolated in Botswana.
Project description:BackgroundBovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV), an enveloped, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA virus from the Flaviviridae family, is a globally distributed bovine pathogen. BVDV infection in cattle, despite having a wide range of clinical manifestations, is invariably responsible for significant economic losses. To counteract these losses, various schemes to control and eradicate BVDV have been implemented, although safe drugs effectively inhibiting the replication of the virus are still lacking. The purpose of this study was to characterize the antiviral effect of naturally occurring proteins and peptide, such as bovine lactoferrin, chicken egg lysozyme, and nisin from Lactococcus lactis, used both individually and in combination, against the cytopathic NADL strain of BVDV in vitro. After determining the cytotoxicity level of each protein or peptide to MDBK cells, its antiviral effects were evaluated using virucidal, cytopathic effect inhibition and viral yield reduction assays. In addition, the influence of the tested compounds on the intracellular viral RNA level was determined.ResultsThe highest efficacy among the single treatments was achieved by bovine lactoferrin, which was effective both at the early stages of viral infection and during its entire course, although the effect weakened over time. Nisin and lysozyme were effective at later stages of infection, and the intensity of their effect did not diminish with time. Nisin+lactoferrin and lysozyme+lactoferrin combinations demonstrated stronger antiviral effects than did the single substances. The nisin+lactoferrin mixture present during the whole period of infection produced the strongest anti-BVDV effect in our entire research on both the extracellular viral titre (titre reduction up to 2.875 log ? 99.9%) and the intracellular viral RNA level (reduction up to 89%), and this effect intensified over the incubation time.ConclusionsThe tested substances could be applied in bovine viral diarrhoea prevention and therapy, especially when used in combination.