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Journal of Virology, September 2009, p. 9532-9540, Vol. 83, No. 18
0022-538X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.00529-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Characterization of a Novel Flavivirus from Mosquitoes in Northern Europe That Is Related to Mosquito-Borne Flaviviruses of the Tropics{triangledown}

Eili Huhtamo,1* Niina Putkuri,1 Satu Kurkela,1,2 Tytti Manni,1 Antti Vaheri,1,2 Olli Vapalahti,1,2,3 and Nathalie Y. Uzcátegui1

Department of Virology, Haartman Institute, Faculty of Medicine, P.O. Box 21 (Haartmaninkatu 3), FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland,1 Department of Virology, Helsinki University Central Hospital Laboratory, P.O. Box 400 (Haartmaninkatu 3), FI-00029 HUS, Finland,2 Division of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, P.O. Box 66 (Agnes Sjöbergin katu 2), FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland3

Received 14 March 2009/ Accepted 22 June 2009

A novel flavivirus was isolated from mosquitoes in Finland, representing the first mosquito-borne flavivirus from Northern Europe. The isolate, designated Lammi virus (LAMV), was antigenically cross-reactive with other flaviviruses and exhibited typical flavivirus morphology as determined by electron microscopy. The genomic sequence of LAMV was highly divergent from the recognized flaviviruses, and yet the polyprotein properties resembled those of mosquito-borne flaviviruses. Phylogenetic analysis of the complete coding sequence showed that LAMV represented a distinct lineage related to the Aedes sp.-transmitted human pathogenic flaviviruses, similarly to the newly described Nounané virus (NOUV), a flavivirus from Africa (S. Junglen et al., J. Virol. 83:4462-4468, 2009). Despite the low sequence homology, LAMV and NOUV were phylogenetically grouped closely, likely representing separate species of a novel group of flaviviruses. Despite the biological properties preferring replication in mosquito cells, the genetic relatedness of LAMV to viruses associated with vertebrate hosts warrants a search for disease associations.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Virology, Haartman Institute, Faculty of Medicine, P.O. Box 21 (Haartmaninkatu 3), FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. Phone: 358 9 19126706. Fax: 358 9 19126491. E-mail: eili.huhtamo{at}helsinki.fi

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 1 July 2009.

Journal of Virology, September 2009, p. 9532-9540, Vol. 83, No. 18
0022-538X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.00529-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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