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저자： 업로드：2017-08-09 조회수：
A chance discovery has opened up a new method of finding unknown viruses. Oxford University researchers have revealed that Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology and its associated online DNA databases can be used to discover unknown viruses. They have developed algorithms that detect DNA from viruses in fish blood or tissue samples and could be used to identify viruses in a range of different species.
The team published its findings (“A Novel Viral Lineage Distantly Related to Herpesviruses Discovered within Fish Genome Sequence Data”) in Virus Evolution.
“In this study, we demonstrate the utility of combining evolutionary approaches with bioinformatics to mine non-viral genome data for viruses, by adapting methods from paleovirology. We report the discovery of a new lineage of dsDNA [double-stranded DNA] viruses that are associated with at least fifteen different species of fish,” write the investigators. “The identification of novel viruses from genome data shows that our approach has applications in genomics, virology, and the development of best practices for aquaculture and farming.”
Aris Katzourakis, Ph.D., and Amr Aswad, Ph.D., research associates in the department of zoology, made their discovery by chance. They were searching for an ancient herpesvirus in primates and found evidence of two new undocumented viruses.
In a different experiment to find new fish-infecting herpesviruses, they used the technique to examine more than 50 fish genomes for recognizable viral DNA. They not only found the expected herpesviruses but they also identified unusual viruses that may even be a new viral family. The traits were found scattered in fragments of 15 different species of fish, including the Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout.
“In the salmon genome, we found what seems to be a complete and independent viral genome, as well as dozens of fragments of viral DNA that had integrated into the fish DNA,” said Dr. Katzourakis. “We know from recent studies that viruses are able to integrate into the genome of their host, sometimes remaining there for millions of years. In this case, it looks like the virus may have acquired the ability to integrate by stealing a gene from the salmon itself, which explains how it has become so widespread in the salmon genome.”
“Discovering new viruses
has historically been biased toward people and animals that exhibit symptoms of
disease,” noted Dr. Aswad, co-author of the paper. “But, our research shows how
useful next-generation DNA sequencing can be in viral identification. To many,
viral DNA in, say, chimp or fal
