Biology subjects

Jiang, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Jiang, J..

At least 253 records · Page 14Linked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

Hypomorphism of a novel long ERα isoform causes severe reproductive dysfunctions in female mice

Estrogen receptor alpha (ER)-mediated estrogen signaling play a pivotal role in both reproductive and non-reproductive functions. Transcriptional regulation of ER gene is highly complex, with multiple transcript variants being differentially produced across the tissues. However, tissue-specific variation and physiological specificity of the ER variants are not yet fully understood. In an attempt to generate a Cre-dependently restorable ER-null mice for functional investigation of the genetic sufficiency, we unexpectedly produced ER hypomorphic mice with biased downregulation of a previously unappreciated long ER isoform that is enriched in the female reproductive organs (uterus and ovaries) and the pituitary but minimally expressed in the brain. Female homozygous mutant mice were capable of pregnancy but displayed irregular estrus cycle and rarely maintained alive newborns without significant morphological and pathological changes in reproductive system and the disruption of body weight homeostasis, indicating the vital role of this long isoform in female reproductive function. Collectively, our results define a tissue-specifically enriched long ER isoform and its preferential role in female reproductive function over body weight homeostasis.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2022

Dissociable Cellular and Genetic Mechanisms of Cortical Thinning at Different Life Stages

Mechanisms underpinning age-related variations in cortical thickness in the human brain remain poorly understood. We investigated whether inter-regional age-related variations in cortical thinning (in a multicohort neuroimaging dataset from the ENIGMA Lifespan Working Group totalling 14,248 individuals, aged 4-89 years) depended on cell-specific marker gene expression levels. We found differences amidst early-life (<20 years), mid-life (20-60 years), and late-life (>60 years) in the patterns of association between inter-regional profiles of cortical thickness and expression profiles of marker genes for CA1 and S1 pyramidal cells, astrocytes, and microglia. Gene ontology and enrichment analyses indicated that each of the three life-stages was associated with different biological processes and cellular components: synaptic modeling in early life, neurotransmission in mid-life, and neurodegeneration in late-life. These findings provide mechanistic insights into age-related cortical thinning during typical development and aging.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

ALS-linked KIF5A ΔExon27 mutant causes neuronal toxicity through gain of function

Mutations in the human kinesin family member 5A (KIF5A) gene were recently identified as a genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Several KIF5A ALS variants cause exon 27 skipping and produce motor proteins with an altered C-terminal tail (referred to as {Delta}Exon27). However, the underlying pathogenic mechanism is still unknown. In this study, we performed a comprehensive analysis of {Delta}Exon27 at the single-molecule, cellular, and organism levels. Our results show that {Delta}Exon27 is prone to form cytoplasmic aggregates and is neurotoxic. The mutation relieves motor autoinhibition and increases motor self-association, leading to drastically enhanced processivity on microtubules. Finally, ectopic expression of {Delta}Exon27 in Drosophila melanogaster causes wing defects, motor impairment, paralysis and premature death. Our results suggest gain of function as an underlying disease mechanism in KIF5A-associated ALS.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Transcriptional circuitry of NKX2-1 and SOX1 defines an unrecognized lineage subtype of small cell lung cancer

RationaleThe current molecular classification of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) based on expression of four lineage transcription factors still leaves its major subtype SCLC-A as a heterogeneous group, necessitating more precise characterization of lineage subclasses. ObjectivesTo refine the current SCLC classification with epigenomic profiles and to identify features of the re-defined SCLC subtypes. MethodsWe performed unsupervised clustering of epigenomic profiles on 25 SCLC cell lines. Functional significance was evaluated by cell growth, apoptosis and xenograft using CRISPR-Cas9-mediated deletion. The specific cistromic profiles by ChIP-seq and its functional transcriptional partners using co-immunoprecipitation followed by mass spectrometry were determined. Rb1fl/flTrp53fl/fl and Rb1fl/flNkx2-1fl/fl mouse models were engineered to explore the function of Nkx2-1 in tumor initiation and differentiation. H3K27ac profiles were analyzed to reveal 6 human SCLC specimen and 20 mice tumors epigenomic landscapes. Measurements and Main ResultsWe identified an epigenomic subclusters of the major SCLC-A subtype, named SCLC-A and SCLC-A{sigma}. SCLC-A was characterized by the presence of a super-enhancer at the NKX2-1 locus, which was observed in human SCLC specimens and a murine SCLC model. We found NKX2-1, a dual lung and neural lineage factor, is uniquely relevant in SCLC-A. We further found maintenance of this neural identity in SCLC-A is mediated by collaborative transcriptional activity with another neuronal transcriptional factor SOX1. ConclusionsWe comprehensively describe an additional epigenomic heterogeneity of the major SCLC-A subtype, and define SCLC-A subtype by the core regulatory circuitry representing NKX2-1 and SOX1 super-enhancers and their functional collaborations to maintain neuronal linage state.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Development and evaluation of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method for detection of the potato wart pathogen Synchytrium endobioticum

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) wart, caused by the biotrophic fungal pathogen Synchytrium endobioticum, is a serious disease of cultivated potatoes. A rapid and accurate method for wart diagnosis is needed. In this study, we described the development and evaluation of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method for the detection of S. endobioticum. Four sets of LAMP primers were designed. Their sensitivity was tested on a gBlock and the specificity of the most sensitive primer set (LAMP1) was verified by in silico analysis and on DNA of non-target species. The LAMP1 primer set showed a detection limit at 7-8 gBlock DNA molecules per reaction. On sensitivity, the LAMP was comparable to qPCR (SYBR green- and probe-based) and about 10 times more sensitive than conventional PCR. Considering the convenience of operation, the LAMP protocol is accurate and robust and should be recommended for the routine lab testing for potato wart.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2022

AFM Microfluidic Cantilevers as Weight Sensors for Single Cell Mass Measurements

Reliably measuring small mass changes at the single-cell level is challenging. In this manuscript, we report the use of microfluidic cantilevers in liquid with sub-nanogram scale weight sensing capability for the measurement of cellular mass changes of living single cells. With this instrumentation, we were able to perform fast mass measurements within 3 minutes. We show results of mass measurements of polystyrene and metal beads of various sizes (smallest weight measured at 280 {+/-} 95 pg) and live single-cell mass measurements in a physiologically relevant environment. We also performed finite element analysis to simulate and optimize the structural design and materials of cantilevers. Our simulation results indicate that using polymer materials, such as SU8 and polyimide, could improve the minimal detectable mass by 3-fold compared to conventional silicon cantilevers. The simulations also suggest that smaller dimensions of length, width, and thickness would improve the mass detection capability of microfluidic cantilevers.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2022

The Chromosome-level Genome of Dracaena cochinchinesis Provides Insights into its Biological Features and the Mechanism of Dragon's Blood Formation

Dracaena, a remarkably long-lived and slowly maturing species, is famous all over the world for the production of dragons blood, a precious traditional medicine used by different cultures since ancient times. However, lacking a high-quality genome,the molecular mechanisms underlying these traits are largely unknown and that greatly restricts the protection and regeneration of the rare and endangered plant resources. Here, we sequenced and assembled a chromosome-level genome of the Dracaena cochinchinensis, the first to be sequenced of Dracaena Vand. ex L. The D. cochinchinensis genome covering 1.21 Gb with a scaffold N50 of 50.06 Mb, and encodes 31,619 predicted protein-coding genes. We found D. cochinchinensis has undergone two whole genome duplications (WGDs) and two long terminal repeats (LTRs) insertion burst events. The expansion of cis-zeatin O-glucosyltransferase (cZOGT) and small auxin up-regulated RNA (SAUR) genes is account for its longevity and slow growth. In flavonoids biosynthesis pathway, transcription factors bHLH and MYB were predicted as the core regulators, and ROS as the specific signal molecule during the process of injury-induced dragons blood formation. Our study not only provides high-quality genomic knowledge of D. cochinchinensis, but also deciphered the mystery of its longevity, and preliminarily elucidated the molecular mechanism of dragons blood formation, which will facilitate the resource protection and sustainable utilization of Dracaena. SHORT SUMMARYThis study reports a chromosome-level genome assembly for D. cochinchinensis, the first genome of Dracaena Vand. ex L. It 29 provides valuable genetic resources and creates a large scope for studying Dracaena. We found the significant expansion of genes associated with its longevity and slow growth, and genes in flavonoids biosynthesis were first completely identified. Moreover, transcription factors bHLH and MYB as the core regulator of flavonoids biosynthesis, and ROS as the specific signal molecule during the process of injury-induced dragons blood formation were also identified. These results not only deciphered the mystery of its longevity, but also elucidated the molecular mechanism of dragon[s blood formation preliminarily, which will facilitate the resource protection and sustainable utilization of Dracaena.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2022

LRLoop: Feedback loops as a design principle of cell-cell communication

Genome-wide gene expression profiling, and single-cell RNA-seq in particular, allows the predictions of molecular mechanisms regulating cell-cell communication based on the expression of known ligand-receptor pairs. Currently available techniques for predicting ligand-receptor interactions are one-directional from sender to receiver cells. Here we describe LRLoop, a new method for analyzing cell-cell communication that is based on bi-directional ligand-receptor interactions, where two pairs of ligand-receptor interactions are identified that are responsive to each other, and thereby form a closed feedback loop. We assessed LRLoop using both bulk and single-cell datasets and found our method significantly reduces the false positive rate seen with existing methods. Finally, we applied LRLoop to the single-cell datasets obtained from retinal development and discovered many new bi-directional ligand-receptor interactions among individual cell types that potentially control proliferation, neurogenesis and/or cell fate specification.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2022

Single-Objective Evanescent Scattering Microscopy for Imaging Single Proteins and Binding Kinetics

Plasmonic scattering microscopy has advanced the evanescent detection approaches by offering wide-field single-molecule imaging capability. However, two limitations prevent the broader application of plasmonic single-molecule imaging. One is the heating effect accompanying the plasmonic enhancement, and the other is the complicated system structure resulting from the two-objective optical arrangement. Here, we report single-objective evanescent scattering microscopy. The evanescent field is created by total internal reflection instead of the surface plasmon resonance on the gold film. As a result, the sensing substrate without gold film produces little heat, and allows excitation and observation using one objective. In addition, this system enables quantification of protein binding kinetics by simultaneously counting the binding of individual molecules and recording their binding sites with nanometer precision, providing a digital method to measure binding kinetics with high spatiotemporal resolution. This work may pave a road for label-free single protein analysis in conventional microscopy. TeaserLabel-free single-molecule imaging on a total internal reflection fluorescence objective.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2022

Hedgehogs are the major amplifying hosts of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is a tick-borne bandavirus mainly transmitted by Haemaphysalis longicornis in East Asia, mostly in rural areas. To date, the amplifying host involved in the natural transmission of SFTSV remains unidentified. Our epidemiological field survey conducted in endemic areas in China showed that hedgehogs were widely distributed, had heavy tick infestations, and had high SFTSV seroprevalence and RNA prevalence. After experimental infection of Erinaceus amurensis and Atelerix albiventris hedgehogs with SFTSV, robust but transitory viremias were detected, which lasted for around nine to eleven days. The infected hedgehogs experienced light weight loss and histopathology of the spleen showed hemorrhagic necrosis and lymphopenia, with infected hedgehogs recovering after viral clearance. Remarkably, SFTSV transmission cycle between hedgehogs and nymph/adult H. longicornis was easily accomplished under laboratory condition with 100% efficiency. Furthermore, naive H. longicornis ticks could be infected by SFTSV-positive ticks co-feeding on naive hedgehogs, with transstadial transmission of SFTSV also confirmed. We also found that SFTSV viremia remained high in hedgehogs during hibernation, suggesting that this mechanism might contribute to the persistence of SFTSV from one year to the next. Of concern, we recently found evidence of the natural circulation of SFTSV in the urban area of Beijing City in China involving H. longicornis ticks and E. amurensis hedgehogs. Our study suggests that the hedgehogs are the major wildlife amplifying hosts of SFTSV and that urban outbreaks of SFTSV might occur in the future.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2022

Chromatin reprogramming and transcriptional regulation orchestrate embryogenesis in hexaploid wheat

Embryogenesis represents the beginning of life cycle, but our understanding of the regulatory circuitry in plants is far lagged to animals. Here, we draw a transcriptome trajectory and chromatin landscape profile during embryogenesis of most cultivated crop hexaploid wheat, highlighting large-scale chromatin reconfiguration and distinct proximal and distal transcriptional regulation in defining cell fate transition. Upon fertilization, H3K27ac and H3K4me3 resetting were correlated with maternal genome silence, while de novo building of chromatin accessibility activated zygotic genome. Global depletion of H3K27me3 in pre-embryo results in a permissive chromatin environment with gain-of-chromatin accessibility, allowing subsequent hierarchical cis- and trans-regulation network mediated by key factors, such as LEC1, MYB, ZHD, LEC2, governing embryo pattern formation. By contrast, H3K27me3 restoration coordinating with chromatin compaction in developmental genes attenuated totipotency and prohibited extensive organogenesis during embryo maturation. In addition, dynamic biased expression of homeolog triads and diverse expression profiles after polyploidization were observed. This is correlated with asymmetric transposon elements insertion in accessible proximal and distal regions. Thus, our study revealed a plant-specific chromatin reprogramming process in facilitating the hierarchical transcription regulation circuits mediated "inverse hourglass model" and unveiled epigenetic regulation of evolutionary divergence among different sub-genome in shaping embryogenesis in polyploidy wheat.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Targeted photothrombotic stroke leads to disruptions in neurovascular coupling

Functional neuroimaging, which measures hemodynamic responses to brain activity, has great potential for monitoring stroke patients. However, the neurophysiological interpretations of these hemodynamic signals remain a challenge as the stroke is likely to alter both neural activity and neurovascular coupling. To address this challenge, we simultaneously captured neural activity, through fluorescence calcium imaging, and hemodynamics, through intrinsic optical signal imaging, during longitudinal stroke recovery. We found that photothrombotic stroke to somatosensory forelimb region altered neurovascular coupling in the acute phase (2 days and 1 week post-stroke) within the affected forelimb and peri-infarct regions. Neurovascular coupling was reestablished in the chronic phase (4 weeks post-stroke), and acute recovery of neurovascular coupling predicted sensorimotor function. Stroke also resulted in increases in the power of global brain oscillations, which showed distinct patterns between calcium and hemodynamics. Increased calcium excitability in the contralesional hemisphere was associated with increased intrahemispheric connectivity. Additionally, acute increases in hemodynamic oscillations were associated with improved sensorimotor outcomes. TeaserAcute ischemic stroke leads to neurovascular uncoupling and the extent of early recoupling predicts sensorimotor recovery.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2022

Comprehensive preclinical evaluation of human-derived anti-poly-GA antibodies in cellular and animal models of C9ORF72 disease

Hexanucleotide G4C2 repeat expansions in the C9ORF72 gene are the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs) generated by translation of repeat-containing RNAs show toxic effects in vivo as well as in vitro and are key targets for therapeutic intervention. We generated human antibodies that bind DPRs with high affinity and specificity. Anti-GA antibodies engaged extra- and intracellular poly-GA and reduced aggregate formation in a poly-GA over-expressing human cell line. However, antibody treatment in human neuronal cultures synthesizing exogenous poly-GA resulted in the formation of large extracellular immune complexes and did not affect accumulation of intracellular poly-GA aggregates. Treatment with antibodies was also shown to directly alter the morphological and biochemical properties of poly-GA and to shift poly-GA/antibody complexes to more rapidly sedimenting ones. These alterations were not observed with poly-GP and have important implications for accurate measurement of poly-GA levels including the need to evaluate all centrifugation fractions and disrupt the interaction between treatment antibodies and poly-GA by denaturation. Targeting poly-GA and poly-GP in two mouse models expressing G4C2 repeats by systemic antibody delivery for up to 16 months was well-tolerated and led to measurable brain penetration of antibodies. Long term treatment with anti-GA antibodies produced improvement in an open field movement test in aged C9ORF72450 mice. However, chronic administration of anti-GA antibodies in AAV-(G4C2)149 mice was associated with increased levels of poly-GA detected by immunoassay and did not significantly reduce poly-GA aggregates or alleviate disease progression in this model. SignificanceImmunotherapy has been proposed for neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimers or Parkinsons diseases. Recent reports using antibodies against poly-GA or active immunization suggested similar immunotherapy in ALS/FTD caused by repeat expansion in the C9ORF72 gene (1, 2). Here, we systematically characterized human antibodies against multiple DPR species and tested the biological effects of antibodies targeting poly-GA in different cellular and mouse models. Target engagement was shown in three independent cellular models. Anti-GA antibodies reduced the number of intracellular poly-GA aggregates in human T98G cells but not in cultured human neurons. Whereas chronic anti-GA treatment in BAC C9ORF72450 mice did not impact poly-GA levels and modestly improved one behavioral phenotype, poly-GA levels detected by immunoassays were increased and disease progression was unaltered in AAV-(G4C2)149 mice.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

A spatiotemporal steroidogenic regulatory network in human fetal adrenal glands and gonads

Human fetal adrenal glands produce substantial amounts of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which is one of the most important precursors of sex hormones. However, the underlying biological mechanism remains largely unknown. Herein, we sequenced human fetal adrenal glands and gonads from 7 to 14 GW via the 10x Genomics single-cell transcriptome techniques and reconstructed their location information by Spatial Transcriptome, conducted COOL-seq for the MC2R+ inner zone steroidogenic cells during the time window of sex differentiation (8-12GW). We found that relative to gonads, adrenal glands begin to synthesize steroids early. The coordination among steroidogenic cells and multiple nonsteroidogenic cells promotes adrenal cortex construction and steroid synthesis. Notably, during the time window of sex differentiation (8-12 GW), key enzyme gene expression shifts to accelerate DHEA synthesis in males and cortisol synthesis in females. Furthermore, high SST+ expressions in the adrenal gland and testis amplify androgen synthesis in males. Our research highlights the robustness of the action of fetal adrenal glands on gonads to modify the process of sexual differentiation.

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Aberrant Fucosylation of Saliva Glycoprotein Defining Lung Adenocarcinomas Malignancy

Aberrant glycosylation is a hallmark of cancer found during tumorigenesis and tumor progression. Lung cancer induced by oncogene mutations has been detected in the patients saliva, and saliva glycosylation has been altered. Saliva contains highly glycosylated glycoproteins, the characteristics of which may be related to various diseases. Therefore, elucidating cancer-specific glycosylation in the saliva of healthy, non-cancer, and cancer patients can reveal whether tumor glycosylation has unique characteristics for early diagnosis. In this work, we used a solid-phase chemoenzymatic method to study the glycosylation of saliva glycoproteins in clinical specimens. The results showed that the 1,6-core fucosylation of glycoproteins in cancer patients was significant increased. The fucosylation of 1,2 or 1,3 is also increased in cancer patients. We further analyzed the expression of fucosyltransferases responsible for 1,2, 1,3, 1,6 fucosylation. The fucosylation of the saliva of cancer patients is drastically different from that of non-cancer or health controls. These results indicate that the glycoform of saliva fucosylation distinguishes lung cancer from other diseases, and this feature has the potential to diagnose lung adenocarcinoma. TOC O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=169 SRC="FIGDIR/small/472888v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (31K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@139bcc2org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@19777a5org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1302be6org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@19210d4_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG Fucosylation biosynthesis in lung cancer. Saliva fucosylation contains 1,2-linked, 1,3-linked, 1,6-linked fucosylation in lung cancer. C_FIG

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2021

The Flowering Repressor SVP recruits the TOPLESS co-repressor to control flowering in chrysanthemum and Arabidopsis

Plant flowering time is a consequence of the perception of environmental and endogenous signals. The MCM1-AGAMOUSDEFICIENS-SRF-box (MADS-box) gene SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE (SVP) is a pivotal repressor that negatively regulates the floral transition during the vegetative phase. The transcriptional corepressor TOPLESS (TPL) plays critical roles in many aspects of plant life. An interaction first identified between the second LXLXLX motif (LRLGLP) of CmSVP with CmTPL1-2, which can repress the expression of a key flowering factor CmFTL3 by binding its promotor CArG element in chrysanthemum. Genetic analysis suggested that the CmSVP-CmTPL1-2 transcriptional complex is a prerequisite for SVP to act as a floral repressor, which reduces CmFTL3 transcriptional activity. CmSVP rescued the phenotype of the svp-31 mutant in Arabidopsis, and overexpression of AtSVP or CmSVP in the Arabidopsis dominant negative mutation tpl-1 led to a loss-of-function in late flowering, which confirmed the highly conserved function of SVP in the two completely different species. Thus, we have validated a conserved machinery wherein SVP relies on TPL to inhibit flowering through the direct regulation of FT, which is more meaningful for the evolution of species and could be translated to high-quality cultivation and breeding of crops.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Re-entry into mitosis and regeneration of intestinal stem cells through enteroblast dedifferentiation in Drosophila midguts

Many adult tissues and organs including the intestine rely on resident stem cells to maintain homeostasis. In mammalian intestines, upon ablation of resident stem cells, the progenies of intestinal stem cells (ISCs) such as secretory cells and tuft cells can dedifferentiate to generate ISCs to drive epithelial regeneration, but whether and how the ISC progenies dedifferentiate to generate ISCs under physiological conditions remains unknown. Here we show that infection of pathogenic bacteria induces enteroblasts (EBs) as one type of ISC progenies to re-enter the mitotic cycle in the Drosophila intestine. The re-entry into mitosis is dependent on epithermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-Ras signaling and ectopic activation of EGFR-Ras signaling in EBs is sufficient to drive EBs cell-autonomously to re-enter into mitosis. In addition, we examined whether EBs gain ISC identity as a prerequisite to divide, but the immunostaining with stem cell marker Delta shows that these dividing EBs do not gain ISC identity. After employing lineage tracing experiments, we further demonstrate that EBs dedifferentiate to generate functional ISCs after symmetric divisions of EBs. Together, our study in Drosophila intestines uncovers a new role of EGFR-Ras signaling in regulating re-entry into mitosis and dedifferentiation during regeneration and reveals a novel mechanism by which ISC progenies undergo dedifferentiation through a mitotic division, which has important implication to mammalian tissue homeostasis and tumorigenesis.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Identification of diverse viruses associated with grasshoppers unveils phylogenetic congruence between hosts and viruses

Locusts and grasshoppers are one of the most dangerous agricultural pests. Environmentally benign microbial pesticides are increasingly desirable for controlling locust outbreaks in fragile ecosystems. Here we use metagenomic sequencing to profile the rich viral communities in 34 grasshopper species and report 322 viruses, including 202 novel species. Most of the identified viruses are related to other insect viruses and some are targeted by antiviral RNAi pathway, indicating they infect grasshoppers. Some plant/fungi/vertebrate associated viruses are also abundant in our samples. Our analysis of relationships between host and virus phylogenies suggests that the composition of viromes is closely allied with host evolution, and there is significant phylogenetic relatedness between grasshoppers and viruses from Lispiviridae, Partitiviridae, Orthomyxoviridae, Virgaviridae and Flaviviridae. Overall, this study is a thorough exploration of viruses in grasshoppers and provide an essential evolutionary and ecological context for host-virus interaction in Acridoidea. Author SummaryLocusts are the most destructive migratory pest in the world and continue to cause massive damages that endanger food security and threaten millions of people in 21st century. While chemical pesticides are still heavily relied on, biological pesticides developed from natural pathogens offer a reliable, less harmful alternative for controlling locust outbreaks in fragile ecosystems. Unfortunately, little is known about natural pathogens infecting this pest. In this study, we profile the viral communities in 34 grasshopper species include some major swarming species. While we identified as many as 202 novel viral species associated with grasshoppers, some of them are of potential to be developed as biocontrol agents. Our analysis of relatedness of phylogenies of grasshoppers and associated viruses helps to shed light on the eco-evolutionary interactions between insects and viruses. This work provides a valuable dataset of both academic and applied interest.

microbiology↗