Molecular detection, isolation and characterization of Peste-des-petits ruminants virus from goat milk from outbreaks in Bangladesh and its implication for eradication strategy.

Peste-des-petits ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious transboundary viral disease of small ruminants, which is endemic in much of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. In South Asia, PPR is of significant concern to the Indian subcontinent including Bangladesh as more than 30% of the world's sheep and goats are farmed in this region, predominantly by small, poor and marginal farmers. PPR virus was detected and isolated from goat milk from field samples from PPR outbreaks (2012-2015) in Bangladesh and its full-length sequences obtained.

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR): A neglected tropical disease in Maghreb region of North Africa and its threat to Europe.

Background: Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a contagious disease listed by the World Organisation for Animal health (OIE) as being a specific hazard. It affects sheep, goats, and wild ungulates, and is prevalent throughout the developing world particularly Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. PPR has been targeted for eradication by 2030 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the OIE, after the successful eradication of the related disease, rinderpest in cattle.

shRNAs targeting either the glycoprotein or polymerase genes inhibit Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus replication in zebrafish ZF4 cells.

Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV) represents an important disease of finfish. To explore the potential of shRNAs to combat this disease nucleotide sequences of either the VHSV glycoprotein (G) or polymerase (L) gene were targeted. To test their function, shRNAs were expressed in zebrafish epithelial ZF-4 cells utilizing the zebrafish U6-2 promoter.

Loop de loop: viral RNA evades IFIT1 targeting.

In a landmark finding published in Science, Hyde et al. have demonstrated that a hairpin RNA structure adjacent to the 5' cap of alphavirus genomic RNA confers the ability of these viruses to evade restriction by the interferon-induced host protein IFIT1.

Characterization of zebrafish polymerase III promoters for the expression of short-hairpin RNA interference molecules.

RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful, sequence specific, and long-lasting method of gene knockdown, and can be elicited by the expression of short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) molecules driven via polymerase III type 3 promoters from a DNA vector or transgene. To further develop RNAi as a tool in zebrafish, we have characterized the zebrafish U6 and H1 snRNA promoters and compared the efficiency of each of the promoters to express an shRNA and silence a reporter gene, relative to previously characterized U6 promoters from pufferfish, chicken, and mouse. Our results show that the zebrafish polymerase III promoters were capable of effective gene silencing in the zebrafish ZF4 cell line, but were ineffective in mammalian Vero cells.