Upolu virus and Aransas Bay virus, Two Presumptive Bunyaviruses, Are Novel Members of the Family Orthomyxoviridae

Thomas Briese; Rashmi Chowdhary; Amelia Travassos da Rosa; Stephen K. Hutchison; Vsevolod Popov; Craig Street; Robert B. Tesh; W. Ian Lipkin

doi:10.1128/JVI.03391-13

Upolu virus and Aransas Bay virus, Two Presumptive Bunyaviruses, Are Novel Members of the Family Orthomyxoviridae

^aCenter for Infection and Immunity, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
^bDepartment of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA
^c454 Roche Life Sciences, Branford, Connecticut, USA
^dDepartment of Pathology and Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
^eDepartment of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA

D. S. Lyles, Editor

ABSTRACT

Emerging and zoonotic pathogens pose continuing threats to human health and ongoing challenges to diagnostics. As nucleic acid tests are playing increasingly prominent roles in diagnostics, the genetic characterization of molecularly uncharacterized agents is expected to significantly enhance detection and surveillance capabilities. We report the identification of two previously unrecognized members of the family Orthomyxoviridae, which includes the influenza viruses and the tick-transmitted Thogoto and Dhori viruses. We provide morphological, serologic, and genetic evidence that Upolu virus (UPOV) from Australia and Aransas Bay virus (ABV) from North America, both previously considered potential bunyaviruses based on electron microscopy and physicochemical features, are orthomyxoviruses instead. Their genomes show up to 68% nucleotide sequence identity to Thogoto virus (segment 2; ∼74% at the amino acid level) and a more distant relationship to Dhori virus, the two prototype viruses of the recognized species of the genus Thogotovirus. Despite sequence similarity, the coding potentials of UPOV and ABV differed from that of Thogoto virus, instead being like that of Dhori virus. Our findings suggest that the tick-transmitted viruses UPOV and ABV represent geographically distinct viruses in the genus Thogotovirus of the family Orthomyxoviridae that do not fit in the two currently recognized species of this genus.

IMPORTANCE Upolu virus (UPOV) and Aransas Bay virus (ABV) are shown to be orthomyxoviruses instead of bunyaviruses, as previously thought. Genetic characterization and adequate classification of agents are paramount in this molecular age to devise appropriate surveillance and diagnostics. Although more closely related to Thogoto virus by sequence, UPOV and ABV differ in their coding potentials by lacking a proposed pathogenicity factor. In this respect, they are similar to Dhori virus, which, despite the lack of a pathogenicity factor, can cause disease. These findings enable further studies into the evolution and pathogenicity of orthomyxoviruses.

FOOTNOTES

Received 26 November 2013.
Accepted 21 February 2014.

Address correspondence to Thomas Briese, thomas.briese{at}columbia.edu.
↵* Present address: Rashmi Chowdhary, Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Saket Nagar, Bhopal, India; Stephen K. Hutchison, Transgenomic Inc., New Haven, Connecticut, USA; Craig Street, Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
T.B. and R.C. contributed equally to this work.
Published ahead of print 26 February 2014