Journal des maladies infectieuses et de la thérapie

Abstrait

Detection of Transcripts and an Infectious Dose of Murine Gammaherpesvirus 68 in Dermacentor reticulatus Ticks

Kudelova M, Janosova M, Vrbova M, Matuskova R, Slovak M and Belvoncíkova P

Background: Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 is assumed to be a natural pathogen of murid rodents. Previous investigations of MHV68 in field-collected Dermacentor reticulatus, Ixodes ricinus, and Haemaphysalis concinna ticks support the idea that ticks acquire the virus from feeding on infected hosts. Based on our previous finding of a live MHV-68 capable to replicate in mammalian cells, we aimed to investigate if transcripts of MHV-68 are present in D. reticulatus ticks and to determine the amount of MHV-68 in these ticks.

Methods: This study utilized a sensitive nested RT-PCR method to detect transcripts of the early-late M3 gene of MHV-68, then nested PCR to screen MHV-68 presence and real-time PCR to quantify virus infectious dose in ticks.

Results: Transcripts of MHV-68 M3 gene were detected in 10 out of 11 questing ticks. MHV-68 was detected in 38 out of 48 questing ticks, in which an infectious dose of MHV-68 varies from 2.2 × 104–8.6 × 106 copies of the virus genome .

Conclusion: We report the first evidence of MHV-68 transcription and infectious dose of MHV-68 in field collected D. reticulatus ticks. Results provide unique evidence that ticks could act as a reservoir of gammaherpesvirus, which could be capable of replication.