Project description:We describe a series of severe neuroinvasive infections caused by Toscana virus, identified by real-time reverse transcription PCR testing, in 8 hospitalized patients in Bucharest, Romania, during the summer seasons of 2017 and 2018. Of 8 patients, 5 died. Sequencing showed that the circulating virus belonged to lineage A.
Project description:Vero cells were infected with the African ZIKV (Dak84) at MOI:3 to assess the viral transcriptome. Samples were harvested at 24 hours post-infection (h p.i.) by flash-freezing, without cycloheximide pre-treatment. Ribosomal RNA was removed using Illumina's RiboZero kit, and RNA was hydrolysed and then gel purified to select fragments 25-35nt long. Fragments were cloned into adapters using the TruSeq small RNA adapter kit and sequenced on Illumina NextSeq. After bioinformatic analysis, it was discovered that infected cells were contaminated with another arbovirus, Toscana virus (TOSV).
Project description:The Roma people are the largest transnational ethnic minority in Europe and can be considered the last human migration of South Asian origin into the continent. They departed Northwest India approximately 1,000 years ago, reaching the Balkan Peninsula around the 12th century and Romania in the 14th century. Here, we generated whole-genome sequencing data of Roma (Romani/Rroma) and non-Roma (European/Romanian) individuals from Romania. We performed a genome-wide scan of selection comparing the Roma, their local host population (Romanians), and a Northwestern Indian population to identify the selective pressures faced by the Roma when they settled in Europe.