Metagenomic Analysis Reveals Three Novel and Prevalent Mosquito Viruses from a Single Pool of Aedes vexans nipponii Collected in the Republic of Korea.

Arboviruses continue to be a significant global health concern. The unbiased metagenomic analyses of mosquito-borne and mosquito-specific viruses are useful to understand viral diversity and for the surveillance of pathogens of medical and veterinary importance. Metagenomic analysis was conducted on 6368 mosquitoes (736 pools), covering 16 species from 18 locations throughout the Republic of Korea (ROK) in 2016. In this report, we describe three viruses detected in a single pool of Aedes vexans nipponii collected at Yongsan U.S. Army Garrison, located in a densely populated district of Seoul, the ROK. The three novel viruses, designated as Yongsan bunyavirus 1 (YBV1), Yongsan picorna-like virus 3 (YPLV3) and Yongsan sobemo-like virus 1 (YSLV1), share sequence and structural characteristics with members belonging to the family Bunyaviridae, order Picornavirales, and family Solemoviridae, with shared RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) amino acid identities of 40%, 42% and 86%, respectively. The real-time reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of 3493 Aedes vexans nipponii (257 pools) showed a high prevalence of YBV1 and YSLV1 viruses, which were present in 65% and 62% of tested pools, respectively. This study highlighted the utility of a metagenomic sequencing approach for arbovirus discovery and for a better understanding of the virome of potential medically relevant vectors.

1,2,4-Triazolidine-3-thiones Have Specific Activity against Acinetobacter baumannii among Common Nosocomial Pathogens.

Acinetobacter baumannii are Gram-negative bacilli that pose a constant threat to susceptible patients because of increased resistance to multiple antibiotics and persistence in the hospital environment. After genome analysis, we discovered that A. baumannii harbors genes that share homology to an enzymatic pathway that elongates long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) in fungi. Previously, 1,2,4-triazolidine-3-thiones (T-3-Ts) were shown to inhibit hyphae production in fungi, and this same LCFA elongation pathway was implicated as the possible target. Therefore, we investigated if T-3-Ts also have activity against multidrug-resistant A. baumannii. Surprisingly, all of the clinical isolates of A. baumannii that were tested have susceptibility to ECC145 and ECC188 with MIC90 values of 8.0 µg/mL. In contrast, reference strains and clinical isolates of other common nosocomial bacteria that lack the LCFA pathway also lacked susceptibility. Time-kill experiments revealed that both ECC145 and ECC188 have a bacteriostatic effect against A. baumannii. Mass spectrometry analysis suggested that exposure to T-3-Ts resulted in less LCFA production. Supplementation of media with either 0.02% w/v oleic or linoleic acid abrogated the bacteriostatic effect of the compounds, which again implicated LCFA elongation as the target. Our results suggest these molecules could be a promising start to further exploit what appears to be an important aspect of A. baumannii membrane function and integrity.