Mòjiāng virus (MojV), officially Mojiang henipavirus, is a virus in the family Paramyxoviridae. Based on phylogenetics, Mòjiāng virus is placed in the genus Henipavirus or described as a henipa-like virus.[1] Antibodies raised against Mòjiāng virus glycoproteins are serologically distinct from other henipaviruses (among which higher cross-reactivity is observed).[2][3]

Mòjiāng virus
Structure of MojV-G glycoprotein
Virus classification Edit this classification
(unranked): Virus
Realm: Riboviria
Kingdom: Orthornavirae
Phylum: Negarnaviricota
Class: Monjiviricetes
Order: Mononegavirales
Family: Paramyxoviridae
Genus: Henipavirus
Species:
Mojiang henipavirus
Synonyms
  • Mòjiāng Paramyxovirus
  • Mòjiāng Henipa-like virus

Discovery

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In the spring of 2012, three miners working in an abandoned copper mine in Mojiang Hani Autonomous County, south China, developed fatal pneumonia.[4] Samples were brought to the Wuhan Institute of Virology where Shi Zhengli and her colleagues ran PCR tests and found that the samples were not the bat coronavirus Rp3 nor SARS-CoV2.[5]

Mammal species present in the cave, including Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, Rattus flavipectus, and Crocidura dracula, were tested for infectious virus and viral RNA. There were 38 sequence reads obtained that were closely related to members of the Henipavirus genus. Infectious virus could only be recovered from four samples of R. flavipectus and were cultured in Vero E6, BHK-21, and HEp-2 cells. While no person-to-person transmission was documented, the full range of mammalian hosts susceptible Mòjiāng virus is unknown.[6] While Hendra, Nipah, Cedar, Kumasi, and Madagascar henipaviruses are known to be harbored among chiropterans, primarily Pteropus spp, MojV is the only henipavirus believed to be found primarily in rodents.[1]

Virology

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The cell surface receptor for Mòjiāng virus remains unknown. Unlike all other known Henipavirus members, Mòjiāng virus does not bind Ephrin B2/B3. The Mòjiāng virus attachment glycoprotein (MojV-G) lacks an Ephrin B2/B3 binding site and does not bind other common paramyxovirus receptors, including sialic acid or CD150, in cell culture. MojV-G is the most divergent gene, with less than 50% sequence to HeV-G. This makes MojV-G as divergent from HNV-G as HNV-G is as divergent from the morbillivirus attachment glycoprotein.[3]

See also

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  • RaTG13, a SARS-like betacoronavirus discovered in 2013 in bat droppings from a mining cave in Mojiang County

References

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  1. ^ a b "Genus: Henipavirus - Paramyxoviridae - Mononegavirales". International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  2. ^ Li Y, Li R, Wang M, Liu Y, Yin Y, Zai X, et al. (April 2020). "Fc-Based Recombinant Henipavirus Vaccines Elicit Broad Neutralizing Antibody Responses in Mice". Viruses. 12 (4): 480. doi:10.3390/v12040480. PMC 7232446. PMID 32340278.
  3. ^ a b Rissanen I, Ahmed AA, Azarm K, Beaty S, Hong P, Nambulli S, et al. (July 2017). "Idiosyncratic Mòjiāng virus attachment glycoprotein directs a host-cell entry pathway distinct from genetically related henipaviruses". Nature Communications. 8: 16060. Bibcode:2017NatCo...816060R. doi:10.1038/ncomms16060. PMC 5510225. PMID 28699636.
  4. ^ Stone, Richard (20 March 2014). "A New Killer Virus in China?". Science. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  5. ^ Zhou P, Yang XL, Wang XG, Hu B, Zhang L, Zhang W, et al. (December 2020). "Addendum: A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin". Nature. 588 (7836): E6. Bibcode:2020Natur.588E...6Z. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2951-z. PMC 9744119. PMID 33199918.
  6. ^ Wu Z, Yang L, Yang F, Ren X, Jiang J, Dong J, et al. (June 2014). "Novel Henipa-like virus, Mojiang Paramyxovirus, in rats, China, 2012". Emerging Infectious Diseases. 20 (6): 1064–6. doi:10.3201/eid2006.131022. PMC 4036791. PMID 24865545.