Role of pattern recognition receptors and interferon-beta in protecting bat cell lines from encephalomyocarditis virus and Japanese encephalitis virus infection.

Bats are potential natural hosts of Encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). Bats appear to have some unique features in their innate immune system that inhibit viral replication causing limited clinical symptoms, and thus, contributing to the virus spill over to humans. Here, kidney epithelial cell lines derived from four bat species (Pteropus dasymallus, Rousettus leschenaultii, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, and Miniopterus fuliginosus) and two non-bat species (Homo sapiens and Mesocricetus auratus) were infected with EMCV and JEV.

ATeam technology for detecting early signs of viral cytopathic effect.

Adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP), the major energy currency of the cell, is involved in many cellular processes, including the viral life cycle, and can be used as an indicator of early signs of cytopathic effect (CPE). In this study, we demonstrated that CPE can be analyzed using an FRET-based ATP probe named ATP indicator based on Epsilon subunit for Analytical Measurements (ATeam). The results revealed that as early as 3 hr, the virus infected cells showed a significantly different Venus/cyan fluorescent protein (CFP) ratio compared to the mock-infected cells.

Encephalomyocarditis virus is potentially derived from eastern bent-wing bats living in East Asian countries.

Bats are reservoir hosts of many zoonotic viruses and identification of viruses that they carry is important. This study aimed to use high throughput screening to identify the viruses in fecal guano of Taiwanese insectivorous bats caves in order to obtain more information on bat-derived pathogenic viruses in East Asia. Guano samples were collected from two caves in Taiwan, pooled, and then subjected to Multiplex PCR-based next generation sequencing for viral identification.

Diurnal behavior and activity budget of the golden-crowned flying fox (Acerodon jubatus) in the Subic bay forest reserve area, the Philippines.

Acerodon jubatus (the Golden-Crowned flying fox) is an endemic species in the Philippines, which was suspected to be a host of the Reston strain of the Ebola virus. As nocturnal animals, the flying foxes spend daytime at the roosting site, which they use for self-maintenance and reproduction. To understand the variation in diurnal behavior and time allocation for various activities in the Golden-Crowned flying fox, we investigated their daytime behavior and activity budget using instantaneous scan sampling and all occurrence focal sampling.