Pronounced phylogeographic structure of Chaoborus americanus in North America. (A) A map of North America displays collection locations of C. americanus populations used in this study. (B) Phylogenetic relationships of the COI barcode region. Tips are color-coded to sampling locations plotted in panel A. Tips labeled with rectangles indicate samples collected and sequenced during this study, and tips labeled with small circles indicate samples and sequences published in a previous study (Ballinger and Taylor 2019). Nodes with support values >0.8 are labeled with filled circles. This phylogeny presents a subset of a more complete tree, including support values and outgroup rooting (Supplementary Fig. S1).

Pronounced phylogeographic structure of Chaoborus americanus in North America. (A) A map of North America displays collection locations of C. americanus populations used in this study. (B) Phylogenetic relationships of the COI barcode region. Tips are color-coded to sampling locations plotted in panel A. Tips labeled with rectangles indicate samples collected and sequenced during this study, and tips labeled with small circles indicate samples and sequences published in a previous study (Ballinger and Taylor 2019). Nodes with support values >0.8 are labeled with filled circles. This phylogeny presents a subset of a more complete tree, including support values and outgroup rooting (Supplementary Fig. S1).

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Inherited mutualists, parasites, and commensals occupy one of the most intimate ecological niches available to invertebrate-associated microbes. How this transmission environment influences microbial evolution is increasingly understood for inherited bacterial symbionts, but in viruses, research on the prevalence of vertical transmission and its ef...

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... larval phantom midges from permanent and semipermanent freshwater ponds across the species range. We sampled fifty-nine locations and identified sixteen ponds with larval C. americanus in the Western and Midwestern United States and Canada, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana, Utah, Idaho, Washington, and British Columbia ( Fig. 1A; Supplementary Table S1). We sequenced the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) barcode locus from each population and found distinct genetic clades defined by sampling location (Fig. 1B). Despite the phantom midge's flighted adult stage, we found little evidence of mitochondrial gene flow between regions-just two ...
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... Western and Midwestern United States and Canada, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana, Utah, Idaho, Washington, and British Columbia ( Fig. 1A; Supplementary Table S1). We sequenced the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) barcode locus from each population and found distinct genetic clades defined by sampling location (Fig. 1B). Despite the phantom midge's flighted adult stage, we found little evidence of mitochondrial gene flow between regions-just two individuals collected in Minnesota were harboring a genotype similar to those in Montana and Idaho (Fig. 1B). To increase sample size and improve resolution, we also analyzed all C. americanus sequence entries ...
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... I (COI) barcode locus from each population and found distinct genetic clades defined by sampling location (Fig. 1B). Despite the phantom midge's flighted adult stage, we found little evidence of mitochondrial gene flow between regions-just two individuals collected in Minnesota were harboring a genotype similar to those in Montana and Idaho (Fig. 1B). To increase sample size and improve resolution, we also analyzed all C. americanus sequence entries in the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD), which add considerable representation in the Midwest and East, while continuing to support near complete genetic isolation among regions ( Supplementary Fig. S1). Two observations support the ...
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... the phantom midge's flighted adult stage, we found little evidence of mitochondrial gene flow between regions-just two individuals collected in Minnesota were harboring a genotype similar to those in Montana and Idaho (Fig. 1B). To increase sample size and improve resolution, we also analyzed all C. americanus sequence entries in the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD), which add considerable representation in the Midwest and East, while continuing to support near complete genetic isolation among regions ( Supplementary Fig. S1). Two observations support the interpretation that isolation is not due to geographic distance alone. ...
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... available sequences. The topology of the Giez virus phylogeny recapitulates that of the host and Niukluk virus trees, while in the Tolviot virus phylogeny, Alaskan viruses are more closely allied with Wisconsin strains than expected (Fig. 6B). Tolviot virus, like Niukluk virus, is also present as two divergent strains in Wisconsin. We note that Fig. 1 shows a mitochondrial haplotype allied with Alaskan and Rocky Mountain haplotypes was found in the Midwest at low frequency, possibly a representative of the mitochondrial lineage in which these virus strains historically diverged before a host lineage ...

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... However, our sequencing datasets did not allow for the detection of small RNAs, the central molecules in the recognition of foreign nucleic acid. Evaluating the small RNA repertoire of BSF could provide more insight into the activation of antiviral pathways in this system [59]. Finally, we acknowledge that this method is exploratory, and factors other than the presence of viruses could influence the expression of these genes. ...
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... All the virus sequences that we detected were distributed across geographically distant locations, so we investigated viral diversity between localities. We hypothesized that viral evolutionary relationships would reflect the differences in host species, and that within a host species, phylogenetic relationships would be reflective of geographic distance (Ballinger et al., 2022;Longdon et al., 2014). Specifically, we would expect C. lectularius and C. hemipterus to harbor closely related but distinct viral populations, and within C. lectularius, we would expect samples from Europe to be distinct from samples collected in North America. ...
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... Viral infection is associated with transcriptional alterations of the host, including changes in the expression of genes that participate in important biological or pathological processes, such as antiviral responses, apoptosis, autophagy, inflammation, and necrosis (Rassmann et al., 2013). Viral infection is also known to alter the expression of noncoding RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs), small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs), long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), which have been reported to facilitate viral replication or participate in apoptosis, proliferation, metabolism or antiviral immunity (Ballinger et al., 2022;Lai et al., 2021;Wang et al., 2022;Zhang et al., 2018). ...
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Evidence is emerging on the roles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) as regulatory factors in a variety of viral infection processes, but the mechanisms underlying their functions in coxsackievirus group B type3 (CVB3)-induced acute viral myocarditis have not been explicitly delineated. We previously demonstrated that CVB3 infection decreases miRNA-21 expression; however, lncRNAs that regulate the miRNA-21-dependent CVB3 disease process have yet to be identified. To evaluate lncRNAs upstream of miRNA-21, differentially expressed lncRNAs in CVB3-infected mouse hearts were identified by microarray analysis and lncRNA/miRNA-21 interactions were predicted bioinformatically. MEG3 was identified as a candidate miRNA-21-interacting lncRNA upregulated in CVB3-infected mouse hearts. MEG3 expression was verified to be upregulated in HeLa cells 48 h post CVB3 infection and to act as a competitive endogenous RNA of miRNA-21. MEG3 knockdown resulted in the upregulation of miRNA-21, which inhibited CVB3 replication by attenuating P38-MAPK signaling in vitro and in vivo. Knockdown of MEG3 expression before CVB3 infection inhibited viral replication in mouse hearts and alleviated cardiac injury, which improved survival. Furthermore, the knockdown of CREB5, which was predicted bioinformatically to function upstream of MEG3, was demonstrated to decrease MEG3 expression and CVB3 viral replication. This study identifies the function of the lncRNA MEG3/miRNA-21/P38 MAPK axis in the process of CVB3 replication, for which CREB5 could serve as an upstream modulator.
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Bed bugs (Hemiptera: Cimicidae ) are a globally distributed hematophagous pest that routinely feed on humans. Unlike many blood-sucking arthropods, they have never been linked to disease transmission in a natural setting, and despite interest in their role as disease vectors, little is known about the viruses that bed bugs naturally harbor. Here, we present a global-scale survey of the bed bug RNA virosphere. We sequenced the metatranscriptomes of 22 individual bed bugs ( Cimex lectularius and Cimex hemipterus ) from 8 locations around the world. We detected sequences from two known bed bug viruses (Shuangao bedbug virus 1 and Shuangao bedbug virus 2) which extends their geographical range and the host range of Shuangao bedbug virus 1 to Cimex lectularius . We identified three novel bed bug virus sequences from a tenui-like virus ( Bunyavirales ), a toti-like virus ( Ghabrivirales ), and a luteo-like virus ( Tolivirales ). Interestingly, some of the bed bug viruses branch near to insect-transmitted plant-infecting viruses, opening questions regarding the evolution of plant virus infection. When we analyzed the putative viral sequences by their host’s collection location, we found unexpected patterns of geographical diversity that may reflect humans’ role in bed bug dispersal. Additionally, we investigated the effect that Wolbachia, the primary bed bug endosymbiont, may have on viral abundance and found that Wolbachia infection neither promotes nor inhibits viral infection. Finally, our results provide no evidence that bed bugs transmit any known human pathogenic viruses.