Swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV) is an enterovirus that can cause acute diarrhea and death in piglets and cause serious economic losses to the pig industry. SADS-CoV membrane (M) protein mainly plays a key role in biological processes, such as virus assembly, budding, and host innate immune regulation. Understanding the interaction between M protein and host proteins is very important to define the molecular mechanism of cells at the protein level and to understand specific cellular physiological pathways. In this study, 289 host proteins interacting with M protein were identified by glutathione-S-transferase (GST) pull-down combined with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was established by Gene Ontology (GO) terms and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genomes (KEGG) pathways analysis. Results showed that SADS-CoV M protein was mainly associated with the host metabolism, signal transduction, and innate immunity. The Co-Immunoprecipitation (CO-IP) validation results of six randomly selected proteins, namely, Rab11b, voltage-dependent anion-selective channel 1 (VDAC1), Ribosomal Protein L18 (RPL18), RALY, Ras Homolog Family Member A (RHOA), and Annexin A2 (ANXA2), were consistent with LC-MS results. In addition, overexpression of RPL18 and PHOA significantly promoted SADS-CoV replication, while overexpression of RALY antagonized viral replication. This work will help to clarify the function of SADS-CoV M protein in the life cycle of SADS-CoV.

Acanthobothrium ningdense n. sp. and Acanthobothrium guanghaiense n. sp. are described from the spiral intestine of the whip stingray, Dasyatis akajei (Müller & Henle). Acanthobothrium ningdense n. sp. is reported based on 38 cestode specimens collected at five locations along the Chinese coast, i.e. Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, Ningde and Xiamen, Fujian Province, Taishan, Guangdong Province and Sanya, Hainan Province between 2012 and 2015. Acanthobothrium ningdense n. sp. belongs to the “species category 4” characterised by Ghoshroy & Caira. Among category 4 Acanthobothrium species, A. ningdense n. sp. most closely resembles A. micracantha Yamaguti, 1952 and A. latum Yamaguti, 1952, both from the same host species. Acanthobothrium ningdense n. sp. differs from A. micracantha by lacking a long robust hook handle that connects the bases of medial and lateral hooks, and from A. latum by having much longer axial prongs than abaxial prongs. Acanthobothrium guanghaiense n. sp., only found in Taishan, Guangdong Province in 2014, is a category 2 Acanthobothrium species. Among category 2, A. guanghaiense n. sp. most closely resembles A. semnovesiculum Verma, 1928, but can be differentiated from it by the arrangement of testes (in two staggered columns rather than in two tandem columns), and the shape of abaxial prong (nearly straight instead of with a conspicuous curve in the proximal portion). Acanthobothrium macrocephalum Wang & Yang, 2001 is redescribed based on new specimens collected from D. akajei in Guanghai and Sanya. With this study, the total number of Acanthobothrium species reported from D. akajei is brought to nine. It is possible that some of the species of Acanthobothrium previously reported from D. akajei not encountered in this study may have geographically restricted distributions, as was observed here for A. guanghaiense n. sp..

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is considered to be a promising oncolytic virus that has potential as a cancer gene therapy drug. In this study, PRV-DCD-1-70 was used as a vector to carry exogenous genes IL-18, IFN-γ and PH20 to construct novel recombinant PRV, rPRV-PH20 and rPRV-IL-18-γ-PH20, and their tumorolytic effects were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Our study showed that recombinant PRV lysed all four tumor cell lines, Pan02, EMT-6, CT26 and H446, and rPRV-IL-18-γ-PH20 showed the best tumor lysis effect. Further studies in mice bearing Pan02 tumors showed that recombinant PRV, especially rPRV-IL-18-γ-PH20, were able to inhibit tumor growth. Moreover, an immunohistochemical analysis indicated that the recombinant PRV effectively increased the infiltration of CD4⁺T and CD8⁺T cells and enhanced the anti-tumor immune response of the organism in vivo. Overall, PRV carrying PH20 and IL-18-γ exogenous genes demonstrated anti-tumor effects, providing a foundation for the further development and application of PRV as a novel tumor oncolytic virus vector.

PDCoV (Porcine Deltacoronavirus) is a novel porcine coronavirus that causes intestinal necrosis of piglets, thinning of the intestinal wall and severe villus atrophy in the small intestine. PDCoV is a highly contagious infectious disease characterized by diarrhea, dehydration and vomiting. It has been reported that lncRNA has a significant effect on viral replication and increased or decreased virulence. At present, there is almost no research on lncRNA related to PDCoV infection. With the development of the research, a large number of lncRNAs related to PDCoV infection have been discovered. Identifying the role of these lncRNAs in the infection process facilitates the screening of diagnostically significant biomarkers. Using high throughput sequencing to screen differentially expressed long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) during PDCoV infection, we identified 99, 41 and 33 differentially expressed lncRNAs in the early, middle and late stages of infection, respectively. These lncRNAs were involved in glycolysis / gluconeogenesis, histidine metabolism and pentose and Chloroalkane and chloroalkene degradation pathway. We obtained expression data of miRNAs, lncRNAs and mRNAs during PDCoV infection and constructed and investigated an interaction network. The qRT-PCR validation results of 6 differentially expressed lncRNAs were consistent with RNA-Seq results. This study is the first to examine differentially expressed lncRNAs after PDCoV infection of piglets. These results can provide new insights into PDCoV infection and antiviral strategies.

In this study, we detected a circular replication-associated protein (Rep)-encoding single-stranded (CRESS) DNA virus [named Po-Circo-like (PCL) virus] in intestinal tissue and fecal samples of pigs. PCL virus contains a single-stranded DNA genome, and ORF1 encodes the Rep and not the typical capsid protein encoded in PCV. The Rep protein may be responsible for viral genome replication. In addition, PCL virus may be one of the pathogens causing diarrhea symptoms in pigs. We identified four strains of PCL virus in two different pig farms with severe diarrhea outbreaks in Hunan Province, China. The strains in this study share 85.7–99.7% nucleic acid identity and 84.7–100% amino acid identity with Rep of the reference strains. A multiple sequence alignment of these PCL viruses and Bo-Circo-like CH showed a identity of 93.2% for the Rep protein, and the nucleotide identity was 86.7–89.3%. Moreover, Bo-Circo-like CH and HN75, HN39-01, HN39-02 had similar stem-loop sequences. In conclusion, the present study is the first detailed report of the PCL virus in Hunan provinces, which is a potential new virus in pigs that might be involved in cross-species transmission. Further investigation is needed to determine the pathogenesis of this virus and its epidemiologic impact.