New Isolation of Ponticelli III Virus (Bunyavirales: Phenuiviridae) in Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy

Abstract

The number of newly described sandfly-borne phleboviruses has been steadily growing in recent years. Some phleboviruses are human pathogens, but their health relevance is largely uncharacterized. We aimed to investigate the circulation of these viruses in the Emilia-Romagna region where several have already been described. A total of 482 sandflies were collected in a site in Reggio Emilia in 2019 and 2020. Sandflies collected in 2020 were grouped in 21 pools with a maximum of 25 sandflies per pool, submitted to real time PCR, and isolated in Vero cell culture. Complete genome sequencing showed the isolation of a strain of a Ponticelli III virus. This virus, which belongs to the species Adana phlebovirus, differed in the M segment from the Ponticelli I and Ponticelli II viruses. Analysis performed on the genomic segments of the newly isolated virus compared with other phleboviruses highlighted a strong purifying selection in the L segments, and different substitution saturation, highest in the M segments. Future research should address the ecological processes driving the occurrence of these novel phleboviruses and their possible impact on public health.

Keywords: Emilia-Romagna; Italy; circulation; phleboviruses; ponticelli III.

Figure 1

Mid-point rooted ML phylogenetic tree obtained by sequences of L segments (A), and M segments (B), of the viruses isolated from sandflies in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Virus isolated in this study is shown as red. Bootstrap values are shown near the nodes.

Figure 2

Nucleotide and amino acid uncorrected p-distance between viruses of the Salehabad complex.

Figure 3

Saturation plots showing transitions and transversions versus GTR distance of the three genomic sequences of the Ponticelli, I Ponticelli II, and Ponticelli III viruses.