Search Results (3)

In Australia, Soldier flies (Inopus spp.) are economically significant pests of sugarcane that currently lack a viable management strategy. Despite various research efforts, the mechanisms underlying the damage caused by soldier fly larvae remain poorly understood. Our study aims to explore whether this damage is associated with the transmission of plant viruses during larval feeding. We also explore the larval transcriptome to identify any entomopathogenic viruses with the potential to be used as biocontrol agents in future pest management programs. Seven novel virus sequences are identified and characterised using de novo assembly of RNA-Seq data obtained from salivary glands of larvae. The novel virus sequences belong to different virus families and are tentatively named SF-associated anphevirus (SFaAV), SF-associated orthomyxo-like virus (SFaOV), SF-associated narna-like virus (SFaNV), SF-associated partiti-like virus (SFaPV), SF-associated toti-like virus (SFaTV-1 and SFaTV-2) and SF-associated densovirus (SFaDV). These newly identified viruses are more likely insect-associated viruses, as phylogenetic analyses show that they cluster with other insect-specific viruses. Small RNA analysis indicates prominent peaks at both 21 nt and 26–29 nt, suggesting the activation of host siRNA and piwiRNA pathways. Our study helps to improve understanding of the virome of soldier flies and could identify insect viruses for deployment in novel pest management strategies. Full article

The black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens, BSF) has emerged as an industrial insect of high promise because of its ability to convert organic waste into nutritious feedstock, making it an environmentally sustainable alternative protein source. As global interest rises, rearing efforts have also been upscaled, which is highly conducive to pathogen transmission. Viral epidemics have stifled mass-rearing efforts of other insects of economic importance, such as crickets, silkworms, and honeybees, but little is known about the viruses that associate with BSF. Although BSFs are thought to be unusually resistant to pathogens because of their expansive antimicrobial gene repertoire, surveillance techniques could be useful in identifying emerging pathogens and common BSF microbes. In this study, we used high-throughput sequencing data to survey BSF larvae and frass samples, and we identified two novel bunyavirus-like sequences. Our phylogenetic analysis grouped one in the family Nairoviridae and the other with two unclassified bunyaviruses. We describe these putative novel viruses as BSF Nairovirus-like 1 and BSF uncharacterized bunyavirus-like 1. We identified candidate segments for the full BSF Nairovirus-like 1 genome using a technique based on transcript co-occurrence and only a partial genome for BSF uncharacterized bunyavirus-like 1. These results emphasize the value of routine BSF colony surveillance and add to the number of viruses associated with BSF. Full article

In Australia, soldier flies are major pests of sugarcane, and they can cause significant yield losses in some areas, possibly due to the virus’ transmission to the plants. We sequenced fly larvae salivary glands and identified a novel jingmenvirus, putatively named Inopus flavus jingmenvirus 1 (IFJV1). Phylogenetic trees confirmed that IFJV1 groups with insect-associated jingmenviruses, newly identified flavivirus-like viruses with a segmented genome. After the design and the validation of molecular detection systems for IFJV1, larval homogenates were passaged on insect and vertebrate cells, but IFJV1 could only be detected in the first two passages in insect cells and not at all in vertebrate cells. Despite this lack of consistent replication in laboratory models, this virus does replicate in its host Inopus flavus, as sequenced, small RNA from the larvae matched the IFJV1 sequences. Moreover, they were found to be predominantly 21 nucleotides long and map to the whole sequences on both strands, which is typical of an actively replicating virus. This discovery confirms the worldwide presence of jingmenviruses which, until now, had only been detected on four continents. However, the study of IFJV1 tropism and the possible pathogenicity to its host or the sugarcane it parasitizes requires the development of a stable replication model. Full article