The Genome of Camelpox Virus

AbstractCamelpox virus (CMLV), a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the Poxviridae, is the etiologic agent of a disease of camels. Here we report the CMLV genomic sequence with analysis. The 205,719-bp CMLV genome contains 211 putative genes and consists of a central region bound by identical inverted terminal repeats of approximately 7 kb. A high degree of similarity in gene order, gene content, and amino acid composition in the region located between CMLV017 and CMLV184 (average 96% amino acid identity to vaccinia virus (VACV)) indicates a close structural and functional relationship between CMLV and other known orthopoxviruses (OPVs). Notably, CMLV contains a unique region of approximately 3 kb, which encodes three ORFs (CMLV185, CMLV186, CMLV187) absent in other OPVs. These ORFs are most similar to B22R homologues found in other chordopoxvirus genera. Among OPVs, CMLV is the most closely related to variola virus (VARV), sharing all genes involved in basic replicative functions and the majority of genes involved in other host-related functions. Differences between CMLV and VARV include deletion and disruption of a large number of genes. Twenty-seven CMLV ORFs are absent in VARV, including seven full-length homologues of NMDA-like receptor, phospholipase D, Schlafen, MT-4 virulence, kelch, VACV C8L, and cowpox (CPXV) B21R proteins. Thirty-eight CMLV ORFs, some of which are fragments of larger genes, differ in size from corresponding VARV ORFs by more than 10% (amino acids). Genome structure and phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences for all ORFs indicate that CMLV is clearly distinct from VARV and VACV and, as it has been suggested for VARV, it may have originated from a CPXV virus-like ancestor

Trophic-mediated pelagic habitat structuring and partitioning by sympatric elasmobranchs

Funding provided by the TRIATLAS project through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant No. 817578), the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientı́fico e Tecnológico - CNPq (478070/2008-0, 482557/2011-7), the Fundação Grupo Boticário (0760/2007.2), the Save Our Seas Foundation (66/2008), and the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia – FCT (UIDB/04292/2020; UIDP/04292/2020), is deeply acknowledged. Scholarships granted by the FACEPE foundation to NPAB and by CNPq to BCLM (140567/2012-7) are also acknowledged. We acknowledge the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio), the Brazilian Navy (SECIRM) and the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientı́fico e Tecnológico (CNPq) through the Pró-Arquipélago Program (557183/2009-0; 562062/20102-6; 405460/2012-0; 442884/2015-0) for providing precious logistic support.Pelagic elasmobranchs are key elements of oceanic ecosystems and must be preserved if marine trophic networks are to be kept in balance. Yet, they face intense fishing pressure that has been threatening their populations worldwide. Ensuring proper conservation management of these taxa depends on a better understanding of the strategies they use to explore the pelagic realm and their contributions to trophic web structuring across the ocean column. This study aimed at examining relationships between vertical habitat use and trophic attributes among six sympatric pelagic elasmobranchs using satellite transmitting tags in the western equatorial South Atlantic Ocean. The vertical movements of 35 elasmobranch individuals were tracked during an overall total of 1911 days. Clear relationships between species’ feeding habits, maximum diving depths, and proportion of time spent either in epipelagic or in surface waters were evidenced by Bayesian generalized linear mixed models and multivariate analysis. Filter-feeders made most use of deep waters from the mesopelagic and bathypelagic and shifted their diving depths in phase with diel vertical migrations of the deep scattering layer, i.e., shallower during the night and deeper during the day. Specialists exhibited distinct diving patterns in epipelagic and mesopelagic waters across the diel period which are potentially indicative of habitat partitioning, whereas generalists were more surface-oriented but also explored deeper waters compared to specialists. The trophic level also seemed to influence elasmobranch maximum diving depths, which tended to become shallower as species’ trophic level increased. These results corroborate previous evidence of widespread vertical habitat partitioning among sympatric pelagic predators and depict a trophicmediated structuring of the pelagic environment where top-down control may be exerted at different depths by distinct species. Further research is yet required to understand the role of elasmobranch vertical movements in structuring pelagic habitats as well as to guide ecosystem-based fisheries management aimed at reducing species susceptibility to fishing gear and at preserving the structure and functionality of marine trophic networks.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Reply to: Shark mortality cannot be assessed by fishery overlap alone

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Reply to: Caution over the use of ecological big data for conservation

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Progression of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2 upon vaccination in an industrial rabbitry: a laboratorial approach

[EN] Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2) emerged recently in several European countries, leading to extensive economic losses in the industry. In response to this new infection, specific inactivated vaccines were developed in Europe and full and rapid setup of protective immunity induced by vaccination was reported. However, data on the efficacy of these vaccines in an ongoing-infection scenario is unavailable. In this study we investigated an infected RHDV2 indoor industrial meat rabbitry, where fatalities continued to occur after the implementation of the RHDV2 vaccination, introduced to control the disease. The aim of this study was to understand if these mortalities were RHDV2-related, to discover if the dead animals showed any common features such as age or time distance from vaccination, and to identify the source of the outbreak. Anatomo-pathological analysis of vaccinated animals with the virus showed lesions compatible with systemic haemorrhagic disease and RHDV2-RNA was detected in 85.7% of the animals tested. Sequencing of the vp60 gene amplified from liver samples led to the recognition of RHDV2 field strains demonstrating that after the implementation of vaccination, RHDV2 continued to circulate in the premises and to cause sporadic deaths. A nearby, semi-intensive, RHDV2 infected farm belonging to the same owner was identified as the most probable source of the virus. The main risk factors for virus introduction in these two industries were identified. Despite the virus being able to infect a few of the vaccinated rabbits, the significant decrease in mortality rate observed in vaccinated adult rabbits clearly reflects the efficacy of the vaccination. Nonetheless, the time taken to control the infection also highlights the importance of RHDV2 vaccination prior to the first contact with the virus, highly recommendable in endemic areas, to mitigate the infection’s impact on the industry.The authors would like to thank Dr. Fidélia Aboim (Municipal veterinarian) for gathering information on the mortality of wild rabbits in several legal hunting parks and to Maria João Teixeira, Fátima Cordeiro and Ricardino Ferreira for their technical assistance. This study was partially funded by a grant from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) SFRH/79225/2011.Carvalho, C.; Duarte, E.; Monteiro, J.; Afonso, C.; Pacheco, J.; Carvalho, P.; Mendonça, P.... (2017). Progression of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2 upon vaccination in an industrial rabbitry: a laboratorial approach. World Rabbit Science. 25(1):73-85. doi:10.4995/wrs.2017.5708.SWORD738525

MIGHTEE : total intensity radio continuum imaging and the COSMOS/XMM-LSS Early Science fields

Please read abstract in the article.The UK Science and Technology Facilities Council; the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory; the Leverhulme Trust through an Early Career Research Fellowship; the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology; the National Research Foundation; the Science and Technology Foundation (FCT, Portugal); the UK STFC ; the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Innovation; the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF); the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; the South African Department of Science and Technology’s National Research Foundation (DST-NRF).https://academic.oup.com/mnrashj2022Physic

Taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales: update 2016

In 2016, the order Mononegavirales was emended through the addition of two new families (Mymonaviridae and Sunviridae), the elevation of the paramyxoviral subfamily Pneumovirinae to family status (Pneumoviridae), the addition of five free-floating genera (Anphevirus, Arlivirus, Chengtivirus, Crustavirus, and Wastrivirus), and several other changes at the genus and species levels. This article presents the updated taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales as now accepted by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV)

Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first global synthesis of vertical habitat use by elasmobranchs from data obtained by deployment of 989 biotelemetry tags on 38 elasmobranch species. Elasmobranchs displayed high intra- and interspecific variability in vertical movement patterns. Substantial vertical overlap was observed for many epipelagic elasmobranchs, indicating an increased likelihood to display spatial overlap, biologically interact, and share similar risk to anthropogenic threats that vary on a vertical gradient. We highlight the critical next steps toward incorporating vertical movement into global management and monitoring strategies for elasmobranchs, emphasizing the need to address geographic and taxonomic biases in deployments and to concurrently consider both horizontal and vertical movements