{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T09:17:11Z","timestamp":1790759831772,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,10]],"date-time":"2021-12-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1639094400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004493","name":"International Atomic Energy Agency","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Project 2.1.4.2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Project 2.1.4.2"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004493","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"European Union","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["INSECT DOCTORS under the Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie grant agreement No 859850"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["INSECT DOCTORS under the Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie grant agreement No 859850"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Tsetse flies cause major health and economic problems as they transmit trypanosomes causing sleeping sickness in humans (Human African Trypanosomosis, HAT) and nagana in animals (African Animal Trypanosomosis, AAT). A solution to control the spread of these flies and their associated diseases is the implementation of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). For successful application of SIT, it is important to establish and maintain healthy insect colonies and produce flies with competitive fitness. However, mass production of tsetse is threatened by covert virus infections, such as the Glossina pallidipes salivary gland hypertrophy virus (GpSGHV). This virus infection can switch from a covert asymptomatic to an overt symptomatic state and cause the collapse of an entire fly colony. Although the effects of GpSGHV infections can be mitigated, the presence of other covert viruses threaten tsetse mass production. Here we demonstrated the presence of two single-stranded RNA viruses isolated from Glossina morsitans morsitans originating from a colony at the Seibersdorf rearing facility. The genome organization and the phylogenetic analysis based on the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) revealed that the two viruses belong to the genera Iflavirus and Negevirus, respectively. The names proposed for the two viruses are Glossina morsitans morsitans iflavirus (GmmIV) and Glossina morsitans morsitans negevirus (GmmNegeV). The GmmIV genome is 9685 nucleotides long with a poly(A) tail and encodes a single polyprotein processed into structural and non-structural viral proteins. The GmmNegeV genome consists of 8140 nucleotides and contains two major overlapping open reading frames (ORF1 and ORF2). ORF1 encodes the largest protein which includes a methyltransferase domain, a ribosomal RNA methyltransferase domain, a helicase domain and a RdRp domain. In this study, a selective RT-qPCR assay to detect the presence of the negative RNA strand for both GmmIV and GmmNegeV viruses proved that both viruses replicate in G. m. morsitans. We analyzed the tissue tropism of these viruses in G. m. morsitans by RNA-FISH to decipher their mode of transmission. Our results demonstrate that both viruses can be found not only in the host\u2019s brain and fat bodies but also in their reproductive organs, and in milk and salivary glands. These findings suggest a potential horizontal viral transmission during feeding and\/or a vertically viral transmission from parent to offspring. Although the impact of GmmIV and GmmNegeV in tsetse rearing facilities is still unknown, none of the currently infected tsetse species show any signs of disease from these viruses.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v13122472","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,10]],"date-time":"2021-12-10T08:17:58Z","timestamp":1639124278000},"page":"2472","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["Characterization and Tissue Tropism of Newly Identified Iflavirus and Negeviruses in Glossina morsitans morsitans Tsetse Flies"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Irene K.","family":"Meki","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO\/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna International Centre, P.O. Box 100, 1400 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hannah-Isadora","family":"Huditz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO\/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna International Centre, P.O. Box 100, 1400 Vienna, Austria"},{"name":"Laboratory of Virology, Wageningen University and Research, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anton","family":"Strunov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lab Genome Dynamics, Department Cell & Developmental Biology, Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University of Vienna, Schwarzspanierstra\u00dfe 17, 1090 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9094-685X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ren\u00e9 A. A.","family":"van der Vlugt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Virology, Wageningen University and Research, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9250-9108","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Henry M.","family":"Kariithi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO\/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna International Centre, P.O. Box 100, 1400 Vienna, Austria"},{"name":"Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, USDA-ARS, Athens, GA 30605, USA"},{"name":"Biotechnology Research Center, Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, Nairobi P.O. Box 57811-00200, Kenya"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8899-7746","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohammadreza","family":"Rezapanah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection (IRIPP), Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran 19395, Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5044-6276","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wolfgang J.","family":"Miller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lab Genome Dynamics, Department Cell & Developmental Biology, Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University of Vienna, Schwarzspanierstra\u00dfe 17, 1090 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Just M.","family":"Vlak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Virology, Wageningen University and Research, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Monique M.","family":"van Oers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Virology, Wageningen University and Research, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7540-4462","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adly M. M.","family":"Abd-Alla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO\/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna International Centre, P.O. Box 100, 1400 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"124","DOI":"10.1016\/j.meegid.2008.09.010","article-title":"Tsetse Flies: Genetics, Evolution and Role as Vectors","volume":"9","author":"Krafsur","year":"2009","journal-title":"Infect. Genet. Evol."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4595","DOI":"10.1128\/JVI.02588-07","article-title":"Genome Analysis of a Glossina Pallidipes Salivary Gland Hypertrophy Virus (GpSGHV) Reveals a Novel Large Double-Stranded Circular DNA Virus","volume":"82","author":"Cousserans","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. 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