RAPID DETECTION OF ROTAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS IN ALPACA CRIAS (VICUGNA PACOS) WITH DIARRHEA IN THE CUSCO REGION, PERU

La diarrea es una de las causas más importantes de mortalidad en crías de alpacas, por lo que la definición de patógenos asociados a la diarrea de crías cobra una importancia especial para formular medidas de control efectivas. Muestras de heces colectadas de crías con diarrea aguda y contenidos intestinales de crías muertas fueron examinadas por presencia de antígenos de rotavirus o coronavirus mediante pruebas inmunocromatográficas rápidas. Tres de 14 muestras de heces de alpaca fueron positivas a rotavirus mientras que los contenidos intestinales fueron negativos. Cinco de 14 muestras de heces resultaron positivas a coronavirus mientras que ningún contenido intestinal fue positivo. Estos resultados sugieren que rotavirus y coronavirus están asociados con una proporción de casos de diarrea en crías de alpacas pero no descartan la posibilidad de co-infección con otros patógenos. La prevalencia de estos virus y el impacto causado requieren investigación adicional.Diarrhea is one of the leading causes of alpaca cria mortality in Peru and elsewhere. Defining infectious pathogens involved in morbidity and mortality from diarrhea in crias is of significant importance for its appropriate control. This study reports the detection of rotavirus and coronavirus antigens in feces collected from crias with acute diarrhea and intestinal contents from dead crias. The fecal samples were screened for rotavirus or coronavirus antigens by rapid immunochromatographic methods. Three of the 14 fecal samples were positive for rotavirus antigen while the intestinal contents were all negative. Five of 14 fecal samples were positive for coronavirus and all the intestinal contents were negative. These results suggest that both rotavirus and coronavirus are associated with a proportion of cases of diarrhea in crias but do not rule out the possibility of co-infection with other pathogens. The actual prevalence and impact of these two viruses requires further investigation

Novel insights into host-fungal pathogen interactions derived from live-cell imaging

Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge funding from the Wellcome Trust (080088, 086827, 075470 and 099215) including a Wellcome Trust Strategic Award for Medical Mycology and Fungal Immunology 097377 and FP7-2007–2013 grant agreement HEALTH-F2-2010-260338–ALLFUN to NARG.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Broad and strong memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells induced by SARS-CoV-2 in UK convalescent individuals following COVID-19

The development of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines and therapeutics will depend on understanding viral immunity. We studied T cell memory in 42 patients following recovery from COVID-19 (28 with mild disease and 14 with severe disease) and 16 unexposed donors, using interferon-γ-based assays with peptides spanning SARS-CoV-2 except ORF1. The breadth and magnitude of T cell responses were significantly higher in severe as compared with mild cases. Total and spike-specific T cell responses correlated with spike-specific antibody responses. We identified 41 peptides containing CD4+ and/or CD8+ epitopes, including six immunodominant regions. Six optimized CD8+ epitopes were defined, with peptide–MHC pentamer-positive cells displaying the central and effector memory phenotype. In mild cases, higher proportions of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cells were observed. The identification of T cell responses associated with milder disease will support an understanding of protective immunity and highlights the potential of including non-spike proteins within future COVID-19 vaccine design

Latitudinal variability in spatial genetic structure in the invasive ascidian, Styela plicata

Increases in temperature can shorten planktonic larval durations, so that higher temperatures may reduce dispersal distances for many marine animals. To test this prediction, we first quantified how minimum time to settlement is shortened at higher temperatures for the ascidian Styela plicata. Second, using latitude as a correlate for ocean temperature and spatial genetic structure as a proxy for dispersal, we tested for a negative correlation between latitude and spatial genetic structure within populations, as measured by anonymous DNA markers. Spatial genetic structure was variable among latitudes, with significant structure at low and intermediate latitudes (high and medium temperatures) and there was no genetic structure within high-latitude (low temperature) populations. In addition, we found consistently high genetic diversity across all Australian populations, showing no evidence for recent local bottlenecks associated S. plicata's history as an invasive species. There was, however, significant genetic differentiation between all populations indicating limited ongoing gene flow