Absence of evidence for bornavirus infection in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder.

In 1983, reports of antibodies in subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD) to an as-yet uncharacterized infectious agent associated with meningoencephalitis in horses and sheep led to molecular cloning of the genome of a novel, negative-stranded neurotropic virus, Borna disease virus (BDV). This advance has enabled the development of new diagnostic assays, including in situ hybridization, PCR and serology based on recombinant proteins. Since these assays were first implemented in 1990, more than 80 studies have reported an association between BDV and a wide range of human illnesses that include MDD, bipolar disorder (BD), schizophrenia (SZ), anxiety disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, dementia and glioblastoma multiforme. However, to date there has been no blinded case-control study of the epidemiology of BDV infection. Here, in a United States-based, multi-center, yoked case-control study with standardized methods for clinical assessment and blinded serological and molecular analysis, we report the absence of association of psychiatric illness with antibodies to BDV or with BDV nucleic acids in serially collected serum and white blood cell samples from 396 subjects, a study population comprised of 198 matched pairs of patients and healthy controls (52 SZ/control pairs, 66 BD/control pairs and 80 MDD/control pairs). Our results argue strongly against a role for BDV in the pathogenesis of these psychiatric disorders.

A novel herpesvirus in 3 species of pheasants: mountain peacock pheasant (Polyplectron inopinatum), Malayan peacock pheasant (Polyplectron malacense), and Congo peafowl (Afropavo congensis).

The mountain peacock pheasant (Polyplectron inopinatum), the Malayan peacock pheasant (Polyplectron malacense), and the Congo peafowl (Afropavo congensis) are all listed as vulnerable to extinction under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. Here the authors report fatal infection with a novel herpesvirus in all 3 species of birds. DNA was extracted from the livers of birds with hepatocellular necrosis and intranuclear eosinophilic inclusions consistent with herpesvirus infection. Based on degenerate herpesvirus primers and polymerase chain reaction, 220- and 519-base pair products of the herpes DNA polymerase and DNA terminase genes, respectively, were amplified. Sequence analysis revealed that all birds were likely infected with the same virus. At the nucleotide level, the pheasant herpesvirus had 92% identity with gallid herpesvirus 3 and 77.7% identity with gallid herpesvirus 2. At the amino acid level, the herpes virus had 93.8% identity with gallid herpesvirus 3 and 89.4% identity with gallid herpesvirus 2. These findings indicate that the closest relative to this novel herpesvirus is gallid herpesvirus 3, a nonpathogenic virus used widely in a vaccine against Marek's disease. In situ hybridization using probes specific to the peacock pheasant herpesvirus DNA polymerase revealed strong intranuclear staining in the necrotic liver lesions of an infected Malayan peacock pheasant but no staining in normal liver from an uninfected bird. The phasianid herpesvirus reported here is a novel member of the genus Mardivirus of the subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae and is distinct from other galliform herpesviruses.

Genetic analysis of Israel acute paralysis virus: distinct clusters are circulating in the United States.

Israel acute paralysis virus (IAPV) is associated with colony collapse disorder of honey bees. Nonetheless, its role in the pathogenesis of the disorder and its geographic distribution are unclear. Here, we report phylogenetic analysis of IAPV obtained from bees in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Israel and the establishment of diagnostic real-time PCR assays for IAPV detection. Our data indicate the existence of at least three distinct IAPV lineages, two of them circulating in the United States. Analysis of representatives from each proposed lineage suggested the possibility of recombination events and revealed differences in coding sequences that may have implications for virulence.

Dual role of the adenovirus pVI C terminus as a nuclear localization signal and activator of the viral protease.

Adenain, the protease produced by adenovirus, is regulated by formation of a heterodimer with an 11 aa peptide derived from the C terminus of another adenoviral protein, pVI. Here, the role of the basic motif KRRR, which is conserved in pVI sequences from human adenovirus serotypes, was investigated. It was shown that this motif is less important than the N- or C-terminal regions in the formation of the adenain-peptide heterodimer and in the activity of the subsequent complex. This motif, however, acted as a nuclear localization signal that was capable of targeting heterologous proteins to the nucleus, resulting in a distinctive intranuclear distribution consisting of discrete foci, which is similar to that found for pVI during adenovirus infection.