%0 Generic %A Warrilow, David %A Watterson, Daniel %A A. Hall, Roy %A S. Davis, Steven %A Weir, Richard %A Kurucz, Nina %A Whelan, Peter %A Allcock, Richard %A Hall-Mendelin, Sonja %A A. O’Brien, Caitlin %A Hobson-Peters, Jody %D 2014 %T A New Species of Mesonivirus from the Northern Territory, Australia %U https://plos.figshare.com/articles/dataset/_A_New_Species_of_Mesonivirus_from_the_Northern_Territory_Australia_/975140 %R 10.1371/journal.pone.0091103 %2 https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/1436175 %2 https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/1436176 %2 https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/1436177 %K ecology %K Evolutionary ecology %K microbial ecology %K Evolutionary biology %K Organismal evolution %K Microbial evolution %K Viral evolution %K microbiology %K Virology %K Viral classification %K Viral structure %K organisms %K animals %K invertebrates %K arthropoda %K insects %K mosquitoes %K viruses %K RNA viruses %K epidemiology %K disease vectors %K Vector biology %K Infectious diseases %K mesonivirus %X

Here we describe Casuarina virus (CASV), a new virus in the family Mesoniviridae. This is the first report of a mesonivirus in Australia, which extends the geographical range of this virus family to 3 continents. The virus was isolated in 2010 from Coquillettidia xanthogaster mosquitoes during surveillance in the suburbs of Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory. Cryo-electron microscopy of the CASV virions revealed spherical particles of 65 nm in size with large club-shaped projections of approximately 15 nm in length. The new virus was most closely related to Alphamesonivirus 1, the only currently recognized species in the family. In 2013 a further 5 putative new mesonivirus species were described: Hana, Méno, Nsé, Moumo and Dak Nong viruses. The evolutionary distance between CASV and two of its closest relatives, Cavally and Hana viruses (Jones-Taylor-Thornton distance of 0.151 and 0.224, respectively), along with its isolation from a different genus of mosquitoes captured on a separate continent indicate that CASV is a new species.

%I PLOS ONE