Genetic diversity of Toscana virus glycoproteins affects the kinetics of virus entry and the infectivity of newly produced virions
Toscana virus (TOSV) is a pathogenic and transmissible Phlebovirus of the Bunyavirales order. To date, two principal genetic lineages (A and B) have been identified and the impact of TOSV genetic diversity on its biology is still unknown. We used a reverse genetic approach based on two TOSV strains belonging to lineage A or B (i.e., TOSV-A and TOSV-B) and displaying different in vitro replicative fitness. Our results demonstrate that the sequences of Gn and Gc glycoproteins are responsible for the differences in replicative fitness between the two TOSV strains. Moreover, our data show that TOSV-A and TOSV-B display different entry kinetics and that newly-produced virions have different infectivity. This comparative approach demonstrates that the genetic diversity of TOSV can significantly impact viral properties and highlights the need for better molecular characterisation of the genomes of circulating TOSV strains, with a particular focus on the viral Gn and Gc glycoproteins.
Authors
- Alain Kohl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1523-9458)
- Adrien Thiesson
- Marie-Pierre Confort (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4892-1082)
- Sophie Desloire
- Maxime Ratinier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2271-3549)
- Frédérick Arnaud (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6893-9848)
Institutions
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR)
- École Pratique des Hautes Études (FR)
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (GB)
- Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR)
- Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR)
- MRC University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Viruses
- Published
- 2025-04-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s44298-025-00113-0
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Viral Infections and Vectors
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.79
Funders
- European Commission
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1
- Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l’Alimentation, de l’Environnement et du Travail
- Université de Lyon
- Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement
- Medical Research Council