ArticleVirus genes2025
Genomic analysis of Androctonus mauritanicus toursvirus: first evidence of Ascoviridae in arachnids.
Article in Virus genes, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Viruses have long been known to infect various arthropod hosts, playing crucial roles in their ecology and evolution. While viral diversity has been well studied in insects, knowledge of viruses in arachnids remains limited. This study investigated the DNA virome of Androctonus mauritanicus (Moroccan black thick-tailed scorpion) to expand our understanding of viral diversity in non-insect arthropods and explore the evolutionary relationships of scorpion-associated viruses. Samples of Androctonus mauritanicus collected from the region of Marrakech, Morocco, were subjected to high-throughput DNA sequencing via the Illumina X Ten platform. After the assembly, a complete circular viral genome of 136,386 bp in size with a GC content of 31.75% was identified that bears protein homology to the Ascovirus and Toursvirus genes and was provisionally named Androctonus mauritanicus toursvirus (AmTV). AmTV genome annotation resulted in 144 predicted ORFs, including proteins involved in DNA replication, gene transcription, protein modification, virus assembly, lipid metabolism, and apoptosis. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that AmTV is basal to the Toursvirus genus of the Ascoviridae family and forms a sister clade with Dasineura jujubifolia toursvirus 2a (DjTV-2a) and Diadromus pulchellus ascovirus 1a (DpTV-1a). Comparative genomic analysis revealed that AmTV shares 97 genes with DjTV-2a (average amino acid identity: 43.72%) and 95 genes with DpTV-1a (average amino acid identity: 44.30%), but the genomic structure of AmTV differs significantly from that of both viruses, indicating that these viruses diverged early in their evolutionary history. These findings imply that toursviruses might infect a wider variety of hosts than previously understood, providing insights into the evolution of the Ascoviridae family. The discovery of the presence of viruses in scorpions, a group of arthropods often overlooked in viral studies, broadens our understanding of host-virus interactions and highlights the importance of expanding viral surveillance to new arthropod and arachnid species.
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