Discovery of novel and known viruses associated with toxigenic and non-toxigenic bloom forming diatoms from the Northern Adriatic Sea.

Algal blooms impact trophic interactions, community structure and element fluxes. Despite playing an important role in the demise of phytoplankton blooms, only few viruses infecting diatoms have been cultured. Pseudo-nitzschia is a widespread diatom genus that commonly blooms in coastal waters and contains toxin-producing species.

Cyanobacterial Cyclic Peptides Can Disrupt Cytoskeleton Organization in Human Astrocytes-A Contribution to the Understanding of the Systemic Toxicity of Cyanotoxins.

The systemic toxicity of cyclic peptides produced by cyanobacteria (CCPs) is not yet completely understood. Apart from the most known damages to the liver and kidneys, symptoms of their neurotoxicity have also been reported. Hepatotoxic CCPs, like microcystins, as well as non-hepatotoxic anabaenopeptins and planktopeptins, all exhibit cytotoxic and cytostatic effects on mammalian cells.

Virome analysis of irrigation water sources provides extensive insights into the diversity and distribution of plant viruses in agroecosystems.

Plant viruses pose a significant threat to agriculture. Several are stable outside their hosts, can enter water bodies and remain infective for prolonged periods of time. Even though the quality of irrigation water is of increasing importance in the context of plant health, the presence of plant viruses in irrigation waters is understudied.

Cold plasma within a stable supercavitation bubble - A breakthrough technology for efficient inactivation of viruses in water.

Water scarcity, one of the most pressing challenges we face today, has developed for many reasons, including the increasing number of waterborne pollutants that affect the safety of the water environment. Waterborne human, animal and plant viruses represent huge health, environmental, and financial burden and thus it is important to efficiently inactivate them. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to construct a unique device combining plasma with supercavitation and to evaluate its efficiency for water decontamination with the emphasis on inactivation of viruses.

Benthic sediment as stores and sources of bacteria and viruses in streams: A comparison of baseflow vs. stormflow longitudinal transport and residence times.

The presence of bacteria and viruses in freshwater represents a global health risk. The substantial spatial and temporal variability of microbes leads to difficulties in quantifying the risks associated with their presence in freshwater. Fine particles, including bacteria and viruses are transported and accumulated into shallow streambed (i.

Tomato brown rugose fruit virus in aqueous environments - survival and significance of water-mediated transmission.

Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) has recently emerged as a major disease of tomatoes and peppers. ToBRFV is a seed- and contact-transmitted virus. In Slovenia, ToBRFV RNA was detected in samples of wastewater, river, and water used to irrigate plants.

Inactivation of the enveloped virus phi6 with hydrodynamic cavitation.

The COVID -19 pandemic reminded us that we need better contingency plans to prevent the spread of infectious agents and the occurrence of epidemics or pandemics. Although the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 in water has not been confirmed, there are studies that have reported on the presence of infectious coronaviruses in water and wastewater samples. Since standard water treatments are not designed to eliminate viruses, it is of utmost importance to explore advanced treatment processes that can improve water treatment and help inactivate viruses when needed.

In-depth study of tomato and weed viromes reveals undiscovered plant virus diversity in an agroecosystem.

Background: In agroecosystems, viruses are well known to influence crop health and some cause phytosanitary and economic problems, but their diversity in non-crop plants and role outside the disease perspective is less known. Extensive virome explorations that include both crop and diverse weed plants are therefore needed to better understand roles of viruses in agroecosystems. Such unbiased exploration is available through viromics, which could generate biological and ecological insights from immense high-throughput sequencing (HTS) data.

A small bacteriophage protein determines the hierarchy over co-residential jumbo phage in Bacillus thuringiensis serovar israelensis.

Bacillus thuringiensis serovar israelensis is the most widely used biopesticide against insects, including vectors of animal and human diseases. Among several extrachromosomal elements, this endospore-forming entomopathogen harbors two bacteriophages: a linear DNA replicon named GIL01 that does not integrate into the chromosome during lysogeny and a circular-jumbo prophage known as pBtic235. Here, we show that GIL01 hinders the induction of cohabiting prophage pBtic235.

Evaluation of Methods and Processes for Robust Monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in Wastewater.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has accelerated the development of virus concentration and molecular-based virus detection methods, monitoring systems and overall approach to epidemiology. Early into the pandemic, wastewater-based epidemiology started to be employed as a tool for tracking the virus transmission dynamics in a given area. The complexity of wastewater coupled with a lack of standardized methods led us to evaluate each step of the analysis individually and see which approach gave the most robust results for SARS-CoV-2 monitoring in wastewater.

Systematic Comparison of Nanopore and Illumina Sequencing for the Detection of Plant Viruses and Viroids Using Total RNA Sequencing Approach.

High-throughput sequencing (HTS) has become an important tool for plant virus detection and discovery. Nanopore sequencing has been rapidly developing in the recent years and offers new possibilities for fast diagnostic applications of HTS. With this in mind, a study was completed, comparing the most established HTS platform (MiSeq benchtop sequencer-Illumina), with the MinION sequencer (Oxford Nanopore Technologies) for the detection of plant viruses and viroids.

Generation and Functional Analysis of Potato Virus Y mutants.

Potato virus Y (PVY), the type member of the genus (family ), is the most widespread virus affecting potato and is included in the top five most economically detrimental plant viruses. Recently, the structure of the PVY virion has been determined by cryo-electron microscopy, which has opened the doors to functional studies that explore the involvement of selected amino acids in different stages of the viral cycle. The only way to functionally challenge the role of particular amino acids in the coat protein of PVY, or in other viral proteins, is by using cDNA clones.

Inactivation of Pepper Mild Mottle Virus in Water by Cold Atmospheric Plasma.

Water scarcity is one of the greatest threats for human survival and quality of life, and this is increasingly contributing to the risk of human, animal and plant infections due to waterborne viruses. Viruses are transmitted through polluted water, where they can survive and cause infections even at low concentrations. Plant viruses from the genus are highly mechanically transmissible, and cause considerable damage to important crops, such as tomato.

Cold Plasma, a New Hope in the Field of Virus Inactivation.

Viruses can infect all cell-based organisms, from bacteria to humans, animals, and plants. They are responsible for numerous cases of hospitalization, many deaths, and widespread crop destruction, all of which result in an enormous medical, economical, and biological burden. Each of the currently used decontamination methods has important drawbacks.

Viromics and infectivity analysis reveal the release of infective plant viruses from wastewater into the environment.

Viruses represent one of the most important threats to agriculture. Several viral families include highly stable pathogens, which remain infective and can be transported long distances in water. The diversity of plant viruses in wastewater remains understudied; however, their potential impact is increasing with the increased irrigation usage of reclaimed wastewater.

Structural basis for the multitasking nature of the potato virus Y coat protein.

Potato virus Y (PVY) is among the most economically important plant pathogens. Using cryoelectron microscopy, we determined the near-atomic structure of PVY's flexuous virions, revealing a previously unknown lumenal interplay between extended carboxyl-terminal regions of the coat protein units and viral RNA. RNA-coat protein interactions are crucial for the helical configuration and stability of the virion, as revealed by the unique near-atomic structure of RNA-free virus-like particles.

Cold Atmospheric Plasma as a Novel Method for Inactivation of Potato Virus Y in Water Samples.

While one of the biggest problems we are facing today is water scarcity, enormous quantities of water are still being used in irrigation. If contaminated, this water can act as an effective pathway for the spread of disease-causing agents, like viruses. Here, we present a novel, environmentally friendly method known as cold atmospheric plasma for inactivation of viruses in water used in closed irrigation systems.

High-Throughput Sequencing Facilitates Characterization of a "Forgotten" Plant Virus: The Case of a Henbane Mosaic Virus Infecting Tomato.

High-throughput sequencing has dramatically broadened the possibilities for plant virus research and diagnostics, enabling discovery of new or obscure viruses, and virus strains and rapid sequencing of their genomes. In this research, we employed high-throughput sequencing to discover a new virus infecting tomato, , ), which was first discovered at the beginning of 20th century in the United Kingdom in cultivated henbane. A field tomato plant with severe necrotic symptoms of unknown etiology was sampled in Slovenia and high-throughput sequencing analysis using small RNA and ribosomal RNA depleted total RNA approaches revealed a mixed infection with (, ), (, ) and henbane mosaic virus in the sample.

Water-Mediated Transmission of Plant, Animal, and Human Viruses.

Viruses represent the most abundant and diverse of the biological entities in environmental waters, including the seas and probably also freshwater systems. They are important players in ecological networks in waters and influence global biochemical cycling and community composition dynamics. Among the many diverse viruses from terrestrial environments found in environmental waters, some are plant, animal, and/or human pathogens.

Surveillance of human enteric viruses in coastal waters using concentration with methacrylate monolithic supports prior to detection by RT-qPCR.

This is the first surveillance study using methacrylate monolithic supports to concentrate environmental coastal water samples, prior to molecular target detection by RT-qPCR. Rotaviruses (RoV) and Noroviruses (NoV) were monitored in a polluted area at the Bay of Koper (Gulf of Trieste, Northern Adriatic Sea) and at a nearby bathing area and mussel farm areas. RoV and NoV are released into the Bay of Koper, with higher rates close to the discharge of the wastewater treatment plant, however, they can be detected at recreational and mussel farming areas.

Monolith Chromatography as Sample Preparation Step in Virome Studies of Water Samples.

Viruses exist in aquatic media and many of them use this media as transmission route. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have opened new doors in virus research, allowing also to reveal a hidden diversity of viral species in aquatic environments. Not surprisingly, many of the newly discovered viruses are found in environmental fresh and marine waters.

Next Generation Sequencing for Detection and Discovery of Plant Viruses and Viroids: Comparison of Two Approaches.

Next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies are becoming routinely employed in different fields of virus research. Different sequencing platforms and sample preparation approaches, in the laboratories worldwide, contributed to a revolution in detection and discovery of plant viruses and viroids. In this work, we are presenting the comparison of two RNA sequence inputs (small RNAs vs.

Efficient inactivation of MS-2 virus in water by hydrodynamic cavitation.

The aim of this study was to accurately quantify the impact of hydrodynamic cavitation on the infectivity of bacteriophage MS2, a norovirus surrogate, and to develop a small scale reactor for testing the effect of hydrodynamic cavitation on human enteric viruses, which cannot be easily prepared in large quantities. For this purpose, 3 mL scale and 1 L scale reactors were constructed and tested. Both devices were efficient in generating hydrodynamic cavitation and in reducing the infectivity of MS2 virus.

Application of monolithic chromatographic supports in virus research.

Key properties of monolithic chromatographic supports, make them suitable for separation and/or concentration of large biomolecules, especially virus particles and viral genomes. One by one, the studies that have been completed so far, contributed to the knowledge that monolith chromatography has hardly any limitation to be applied in virus research. Viruses of different sizes, possessing icosahedral structure and symmetrical morphology, as well as rod-shaped or filamentous viruses with helical structure, even enveloped ones, all of them could be successfully managed by means of monolith chromatography.

Enhanced detection of pathogenic enteric viruses in coastal marine environment by concentration using methacrylate monolithic chromatographic supports paired with quantitative PCR.

Currently, around 50% of the world's population lives in towns and cities within 100 km of the coast. Monitoring of viruses that are frequently present in contaminated coastal environments, such as rotavirus (RoV) and norovirus (NoV), which are also the major cause of human viral gastroenteritis, is essential to ensure the safe use of these water bodies. Since exposure to as few as 10-100 particles of RoV or NoV may induce gastrointestinal disease, there is a need to develop a rapid and sensitive diagnostic method for their detection in coastal water samples.