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Viruses
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Ranaviruses and Anti-ranaviral Immunity
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Ranaviruses and Anti-ranaviral Immunity

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Viral Immunology, Vaccines, and Antivirals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2021) | Viewed by 9360

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Leon Grayfer

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA
Interests: amphibian innate; antiviral and antimicrobial responses

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The large double-stranded DNA viruses belonging to the Ranavirus genus (family Iridoviridae) cause systemic diseases in a range of cold-blooded vertebrate species around the world, often resulting in mass mortalities of cultured and wild animal populations. The growing economic and ecological concerns associated with these viral infections have been met with increased research of these aptly named “cold-blooded killers”. Investigators around the globe are examining ranavirus ecology, evolution, genetics, replication, and infection strategies. Researchers are exploring the associated pathologies, epidemiology, and potential diagnosis strategies of these viral agents. Additionally, scientists are studying the antiviral immune responses of the teleost fish, reptile, and amphibian host species infected by ranaviruses. Together, this growing body of work provides a unique window into the coevolution of these deadly pathogens and the immune systems of their poikilothermic hosts.

This Special Issue of Viruses coalesces the latest studies and offers comprehensive reviews pertaining to ranavirus and anti-ranaviral immune responses, thus offering an updated perspective into these topic areas.

Dr. Leon Grayfer
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ranavirus
  • lridovirus
  • antiviral immunity
  • frog virus 3
  • amphibian immunity
  • reptile immunity
  • fish immunity

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 4506 KiB  
Article
The Roles of Amphibian (Xenopus laevis) Macrophages during Chronic Frog Virus 3 Infections
by Muhammad Riadul Haque Hossainey, Amulya Yaparla, Kelsey A. Hauser, Tyler E. Moore and Leon Grayfer
Viruses 2021, 13(11), 2299; https://doi.org/10.3390/v13112299 - 18 Nov 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2319
Abstract
Infections by Frog Virus 3 (FV3) and other ranavirus genus members are significantly contributing to global amphibian decline. The Xenopus laevis frog is an ideal research platform upon which to study the roles of distinct frog leukocyte populations during FV3 infections. Frog macrophages [...] Read more.
Infections by Frog Virus 3 (FV3) and other ranavirus genus members are significantly contributing to global amphibian decline. The Xenopus laevis frog is an ideal research platform upon which to study the roles of distinct frog leukocyte populations during FV3 infections. Frog macrophages (MΦs) are integrally involved during FV3 infection, as they facilitate viral dissemination and persistence but also participate in immune defense against this pathogen. In turn, MΦ differentiation and functionality depend on the colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF-1R), which is ligated by CSF-1 and iterleukin-34 (IL-34) cytokines. Our past work indicated that X. laevis CSF-1 and IL-34 give rise to morphologically and functionally distinct frog MΦ subsets, and that these CSF-1- and IL-34-MΦs respectively confer susceptibility and antiviral resistance to FV3. Because FV3 targets the frog kidneys and establishes chronic infections therein, presently we examined the roles of the frog CSF-1- and IL-34-MΦs in seeding and maintaining these chronic kidney infections. Our findings indicate that the frog CSF-1-MΦs result in more prominent kidney FV3 infections, which develop into greater reservoirs of lingering FV3 marked by infiltrating leukocytes, fibrosis, and overall immunosuppressive states. Moreover, the antiviral effects of IL-34-MΦs are short-lived and are lost as FV3 infections progress. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ranaviruses and Anti-ranaviral Immunity)
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19 pages, 4552 KiB  
Article
Influence of Herbicide Exposure and Ranavirus Infection on Growth and Survival of Juvenile Red-Eared Slider Turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans)
by Rachel M. Goodman, Edward Davis Carter and Debra L. Miller
Viruses 2021, 13(8), 1440; https://doi.org/10.3390/v13081440 - 23 Jul 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3095
Abstract
Ranaviruses are an important wildlife pathogen of fish, amphibians, and reptiles. Previous studies have shown that susceptibility and severity of infection can vary with age, host species, virus strain, temperature, population density, and presence of environmental stressors. Experiments are limited with respect to [...] Read more.
Ranaviruses are an important wildlife pathogen of fish, amphibians, and reptiles. Previous studies have shown that susceptibility and severity of infection can vary with age, host species, virus strain, temperature, population density, and presence of environmental stressors. Experiments are limited with respect to interactions between this pathogen and environmental stressors in reptiles. In this study, we exposed hatchling red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans) to herbicide and ranavirus treatments to examine direct effects and interactions on growth, morbidity, and mortality. Turtles were assigned to one of three herbicide treatments or a control group. Turtles were exposed to atrazine, Roundup ProMax®, or Rodeo® via water bath during the first 3 weeks of the experiment. After 1 week, turtles were exposed to either a control (cell culture medium) or ranavirus-infected cell lysate via injection into the pectoral muscles. Necropsies were performed upon death or upon euthanasia after 5 weeks. Tissues were collected for histopathology and detection of ranavirus DNA via quantitative PCR. Only 57.5% of turtles exposed to ranavirus tested positive for ranaviral DNA at the time of death. Turtles exposed to ranavirus died sooner and lost more mass and carapace length, but not plastron length, than did controls. Exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of herbicides did not impact infection rate, morbidity, or mortality of hatchling turtles due to ranavirus exposure. We also found no direct effects of herbicide or interactions with ranavirus exposure on growth or survival time. Results of this study should be interpreted in the context of the modest ranavirus infection rate achieved, the general lack of growth, and the unplanned presence of an additional pathogen in our study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ranaviruses and Anti-ranaviral Immunity)
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19 pages, 4396 KiB  
Article
Virus-Targeted Transcriptomic Analyses Implicate Ranaviral Interaction with Host Interferon Response in Frog Virus 3-Infected Frog Tissues
by Yun Tian, Francisco De Jesús Andino, Collins N. Khwatenge, Jiuyi Li, Jacques Robert and Yongming Sang
Viruses 2021, 13(7), 1325; https://doi.org/10.3390/v13071325 - 9 Jul 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3209
Abstract
Ranaviruses (Iridoviridae), including Frog Virus 3 (FV3), are large dsDNA viruses that cause devastating infections globally in amphibians, fish, and reptiles, and contribute to catastrophic amphibian declines. FV3’s large genome (~105 kb) contains at least 98 putative open reading frames (ORFs) [...] Read more.
Ranaviruses (Iridoviridae), including Frog Virus 3 (FV3), are large dsDNA viruses that cause devastating infections globally in amphibians, fish, and reptiles, and contribute to catastrophic amphibian declines. FV3’s large genome (~105 kb) contains at least 98 putative open reading frames (ORFs) as annotated in its reference genome. Previous studies have classified these coding genes into temporal classes as immediate early, delayed early, and late viral transcripts based on their sequential expression during FV3 infection. To establish a high-throughput characterization of ranaviral gene expression at the genome scale, we performed a whole transcriptomic analysis (RNA-Seq) using total RNA samples containing both viral and cellular transcripts from FV3-infected Xenopus laevis adult tissues using two FV3 strains, a wild type (FV3-WT) and an ORF64R-deleted recombinant (FV3-∆64R). In samples from the infected intestine, liver, spleen, lung, and especially kidney, an FV3-targeted transcriptomic analysis mapped reads spanning the full-genome coverage at ~10× depth on both positive and negative strands. By contrast, reads were only mapped to partial genomic regions in samples from the infected thymus, skin, and muscle. Extensive analyses validated the expression of almost all of the 98 annotated ORFs and profiled their differential expression in a tissue-, virus-, and temporal class-dependent manner. Further studies identified several putative ORFs that encode hypothetical proteins containing viral mimicking conserved domains found in host interferon (IFN) regulatory factors (IRFs) and IFN receptors. This study provides the first comprehensive genome-wide viral transcriptome profiling during infection and across multiple amphibian host tissues that will serve as an instrumental reference. Our findings imply that Ranaviruses like FV3 have acquired previously unknown molecular mimics, interfering with host IFN signaling during evolution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ranaviruses and Anti-ranaviral Immunity)
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