The first study on the occurrence of bovine herpesviruses in the wild fauna of the Moscow region, Russia.

Background and Aim: Some pathogens that cause infections in cattle are found in wild artiodactyls. Their prevalence, possible impact on the population of free-living animals, and the spread of infectious pathology in livestock have yet to be studied. We investigated the occurrence of bovine herpesviruses (BoHV-1, BoHV-4, and BoHV-6) among wild moose and roe deer in 8 areas of the Moscow region in the Russian Federation. Materials and Methods: One hundred and one tissue samples and nasal swabs of 24 moose and seven roe deer were studied using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for BoHV-1 DNA and conventional PCR for BoHV-4 and BoHV-6 DNA. A virus neutralization test (VNT) was used to detect antibodies to BoHV-1 in 19 serum samples. The final antibody titer was calculated with the Spearman-Kärber method. Results: BoHV-4 and BoHV-6 DNA were not detected in all studied samples of 31 animals. BoHV-1 DNA was detected using a real-time PCR in nasal swabs from 2 adult roe deer. For BoHV-1, only 9/19 tested serum samples reacted positive in VNT with the titer range from 0.67 ± 0.19 to 3.75 ± 0.10 log2. Antibodies were detected in all age groups, more often in fawns under 1-year-old. The seropositivity of females was higher than in males. Conclusion: Wild ungulates can potentially represent a reservoir of new pathogenic livestock viruses. To study the prevalence and genetic diversity of wild ungulate herpesviruses, detailed molecular studies of the cervid herpesvirus 1, cervid herpesvirus 2, and elk herpesvirus 1 are necessary.

The Hordeum bulbosum 25S-18S rDNA region: comparison with Hordeum vulgare and other Triticeae.

Hordeum vulgare and Hordeum bulbosum are two closely related barley species, which share a common H genome. H. vulgare has two nucleolar organizer regions (NORs), while the NOR of H. bulbosum is only one. We sequenced the 2.5 kb 25S-18S region in the rDNA of H. bulbosum and compared it to the same region in H. vulgare as well as to the other Triticeae. The region includes an intergenic spacer (IGS) with a number of subrepeats, a promoter, and an external transcribed spacer (5'ETS). The IGS of H. bulbosum downstream of 25S rRNA contains two 143-bp repeats and six 128-bp repeats. In contrast, the IGS in H. vulgare contains an array of seven 79-bp repeats and a varying number of 135-bp repeats. The 135-bp repeats in H. vulgare and the 128-bp repeats in H. bulbosum show similarity. Compared to H. vulgare, the 5'ETS of H. bulbosum is shorter. Additionally, the 5'ETS regions in H. bulbosum and H. vulgare diverged faster than in other Triticeae genera. Alignment of the Triticeae promoter sequences suggests that in Hordeum, as in diploid Triticum, transcription starts with guanine and not with adenine as it is in many other plants.

Peculiar evolutionary history of miR390-guided TAS3-like genes in land plants.

PCR-based approach was used as a phylogenetic profiling tool to probe genomic DNA samples from representatives of evolutionary distant moss taxa, namely, classes Bryopsida, Tetraphidopsida, Polytrichopsida, Andreaeopsida, and Sphagnopsida. We found relatives of all Physcomitrella patens miR390 and TAS3-like loci in these plant taxa excluding Sphagnopsida. Importantly, cloning and sequencing of Marchantia polymorpha genomic DNA showed miR390 and TAS3-like sequences which were also found among genomic reads of M. polymorpha at NCBI database. Our data suggest that the ancient plant miR390-dependent TAS molecular machinery firstly evolved to target AP2-like mRNAs in Marchantiophyta and only then both ARF- and AP2-specific mRNAs in mosses. The presented analysis shows that moss TAS3 families may undergone losses of tasiAP2 sites during evolution toward ferns and seed plants. These data confirm that miR390-guided genes coding for ARF- and AP2-specific ta-siRNAs have been gradually changed during land plant evolution.