Identification of African Swine Fever Virus Transcription within Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Acutely Infected Pigs
African swine fever virus (ASFV) has become widespread in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, thereby causing extensive economic losses. The viral genome includes nearly 200 genes, but their expression within infected pigs has not been well characterized previously. In this study, four pigs were infected wi...
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author | Ann Sofie Olesen Miyako Kodama Louise Lohse Francesc Accensi Thomas Bruun Rasmussen Christina M. Lazov Morten T. Limborg M. Thomas P. Gilbert Anette Bøtner Graham J. Belsham |
author_facet | Ann Sofie Olesen Miyako Kodama Louise Lohse Francesc Accensi Thomas Bruun Rasmussen Christina M. Lazov Morten T. Limborg M. Thomas P. Gilbert Anette Bøtner Graham J. Belsham |
author_sort | Ann Sofie Olesen |
collection | DOAJ |
description | African swine fever virus (ASFV) has become widespread in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, thereby causing extensive economic losses. The viral genome includes nearly 200 genes, but their expression within infected pigs has not been well characterized previously. In this study, four pigs were infected with a genotype II strain (ASFV POL/2015/Podlaskie); blood samples were collected before inoculation and at both 3 and 6 days later. During this period, a range of clinical signs of infection became apparent in the pigs. From the blood, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated. The transcription of the ASFV genes was determined using RNAseq on poly(A)+ mRNAs isolated from these cells. Only very low levels of virus transcription were detected in the PBMCs at 3 days post-inoculation (dpi) but, at 6 dpi, extensive transcription was apparent. This was co-incident with a large increase in the level of ASFV DNA within these cells. The pattern of the virus gene expression was very reproducible between the individual pigs. Many highly expressed genes have undefined roles. Surprisingly, some genes with key roles in virus replication were expressed at only low levels. As the functions of individual genes are identified, information about their expression becomes important for understanding their contribution to virus biology. |
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last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:58:12Z |
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spelling | doaj.art-764a825623974a19a4c325897d4448f02023-11-23T01:59:01ZengMDPI AGViruses1999-49152021-11-011311233310.3390/v13112333Identification of African Swine Fever Virus Transcription within Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Acutely Infected PigsAnn Sofie Olesen0Miyako Kodama1Louise Lohse2Francesc Accensi3Thomas Bruun Rasmussen4Christina M. Lazov5Morten T. Limborg6M. Thomas P. Gilbert7Anette Bøtner8Graham J. Belsham9Section of Veterinary Clinical Microbiology, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1870 Frederiksberg, DenmarkCenter for Evolutionary Hologenomics, The Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, DenmarkSection for Veterinary Virology, Department of Virus & Microbiological Special Diagnostics, Statens Serum Institut, 2300 Copenhagen, DenmarkCentre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (IRTA-CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, SpainSection for Veterinary Virology, Department of Virus & Microbiological Special Diagnostics, Statens Serum Institut, 2300 Copenhagen, DenmarkSection of Veterinary Clinical Microbiology, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1870 Frederiksberg, DenmarkCenter for Evolutionary Hologenomics, The Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, DenmarkCenter for Evolutionary Hologenomics, The Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, DenmarkSection of Veterinary Clinical Microbiology, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1870 Frederiksberg, DenmarkSection of Veterinary Clinical Microbiology, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1870 Frederiksberg, DenmarkAfrican swine fever virus (ASFV) has become widespread in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, thereby causing extensive economic losses. The viral genome includes nearly 200 genes, but their expression within infected pigs has not been well characterized previously. In this study, four pigs were infected with a genotype II strain (ASFV POL/2015/Podlaskie); blood samples were collected before inoculation and at both 3 and 6 days later. During this period, a range of clinical signs of infection became apparent in the pigs. From the blood, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated. The transcription of the ASFV genes was determined using RNAseq on poly(A)+ mRNAs isolated from these cells. Only very low levels of virus transcription were detected in the PBMCs at 3 days post-inoculation (dpi) but, at 6 dpi, extensive transcription was apparent. This was co-incident with a large increase in the level of ASFV DNA within these cells. The pattern of the virus gene expression was very reproducible between the individual pigs. Many highly expressed genes have undefined roles. Surprisingly, some genes with key roles in virus replication were expressed at only low levels. As the functions of individual genes are identified, information about their expression becomes important for understanding their contribution to virus biology.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/11/2333African swine fever virustranscriptomicsgene expressionPBMCsRNAseq |
spellingShingle | Ann Sofie Olesen Miyako Kodama Louise Lohse Francesc Accensi Thomas Bruun Rasmussen Christina M. Lazov Morten T. Limborg M. Thomas P. Gilbert Anette Bøtner Graham J. Belsham Identification of African Swine Fever Virus Transcription within Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Acutely Infected Pigs Viruses African swine fever virus transcriptomics gene expression PBMCs RNAseq |
title | Identification of African Swine Fever Virus Transcription within Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Acutely Infected Pigs |
title_full | Identification of African Swine Fever Virus Transcription within Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Acutely Infected Pigs |
title_fullStr | Identification of African Swine Fever Virus Transcription within Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Acutely Infected Pigs |
title_full_unstemmed | Identification of African Swine Fever Virus Transcription within Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Acutely Infected Pigs |
title_short | Identification of African Swine Fever Virus Transcription within Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Acutely Infected Pigs |
title_sort | identification of african swine fever virus transcription within peripheral blood mononuclear cells of acutely infected pigs |
topic | African swine fever virus transcriptomics gene expression PBMCs RNAseq |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/11/2333 |
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