Biology subjects

Vaccari, G.

Publications and source records attributed to Vaccari, G..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

First identification of camel prion disease in Tataouine, Tunisia: an emerging animal prion disease in North Africa

Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative disorders affecting humans and animals. Among these, camel prion disease (CPrD) was recently identified in Algeria as a novel disease. In this study, we report six CPrD cases in dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) from Tunisia, providing further evidence of its occurrence in North Africa. Affected animals exhibited neurological signs and showed PrPSc accumulation in both brain and lymphoid tissues. Molecular and pathological analyses revealed features consistent with Algerian CPrD cases and distinct from classical scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The detection of PrPSc in lymphoid organs, together with the relatively young age of some affected individuals, suggests the possibility of a contagious etiology, including potential vertical or early-life transmission mechanisms, as observed in scrapie and chronic wasting disease affecting small ruminants and cervids, respectively. These findings underscore the need for continued surveillance and further investigation into the epidemiology, transmission mechanisms and potential public health implications of CPrD.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2025

Aminopeptidase N is a receptor for hedgehog merbecoviruses

Merbecoviruses, closely related to the highly pathogenetic Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), circulate in hedgehogs throughout Europe and Asia, raising concerns about zoonotic transmission to humans and domestic animals. Unfortunately, how these viruses enter host cells remains unknown, hindering experimental studies. Here, we tested known coronavirus receptor orthologues from European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) and identified Aminopeptidase N (APN) as an entry receptor for hedgehog merbecoviruses. We confirm this result with single-cycle pseudotype and replication-competent virus experiments as well as protein binding assays. A screen of 30 mammalian APN orthologues reveals restricted cross-species receptor use. Cryo-electron microscopy analysis of the viral glycoprotein-receptor complex shows a unique interface distinct from known coronavirus spike:APN interactions, providing a molecular basis for species barriers. These findings expand the known range of receptor use not only within merbecoviruses but also betacoronaviruses, improving our understanding of betacoronavirus receptors, and informing risk assessments for viral emergence.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2021

SARS-CoV-2 RECoVERY: a multi-platform open-source bioinformatic pipeline for the automatic construction and analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genomes from NGS sequencing data

BackgroundSince its first appearance in December 2019, the novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2), spread worldwide causing an increasing number of cases and deaths (35,537,491 and 1,042,798, respectively at the time of writing, https://covid19.who.int). Similarly, the number of complete viral genome sequences produced by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), increased exponentially. NGS enables a rapid accumulation of a large number of sequences. However, bioinformatics analyses are critical and require combined approaches for data analysis, which can be challenging for non-bioinformaticians. ResultsA user-friendly and sequencing platform-independent bioinformatics pipeline, named SARS-CoV-2 RECoVERY (REconstruction of CoronaVirus gEnomes & Rapid analYsis) has been developed to build SARS-CoV-2 complete genomes from raw sequencing reads and to investigate variants. The genomes built by SARS-CoV-2 RECoVERY were compared with those obtained using other software available and revealed comparable or better performances of SARS-CoV2 RECoVERY. Depending on the number of reads, the complete genome reconstruction and variants analysis can be achieved in less than one hour. The pipeline was implemented in the multi-usage open-source Galaxy platform allowing an easy access to the software and providing computational and storage resources to the community. ConclusionsSARS-CoV-2 RECoVERY is a piece of software destined to the scientific community working on SARS-CoV-2 phylogeny and molecular characterisation, providing a performant tool for the complete reconstruction and variants analysis of the viral genome. Additionally, the simple software interface and the ability to use it through a Galaxy instance without the need to implement computing and storage infrastructures, make SARS-CoV-2 RECoVERY a resource also for virologists with little or no bioinformatics skills. Availability and implementationThe pipeline SARS-CoV-2 RECoVERY (REconstruction of COronaVirus gEnomes & Rapid analYsis) is implemented in the Galaxy instance ARIES (https://aries.iss.it).

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2020

First isolation and genetic characterization of Puumala orthohantavirus strains from France

Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV) causes a mild form of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) called nephropathia epidemica (NE), regularly diagnosed in Europe. France represents the western frontier of the expansion of NE in Europe with two distinct areas: an endemic area (north-eastern France) where PUUV circulates in rodent populations, with detection of many human NE cases, and a non-endemic area (south-western France) where the virus is not detected, with only a few human cases being reported. France is thus a relevant country in which to study the factors that influence the evolution of PUUV distribution. In this study, we describe for the first time the isolation of two PUUV strains from two distinct French geographical areas: Ardennes (endemic area) and Loiret (non-endemic area). To isolate PUUV efficiently, we selected wild bank voles (Myodes glareolus, the specific reservoir of PUUV) captured in these areas and that were seronegative for anti-PUUV IgG (ELISA), but showed a non-negligible viral RNA load in their lung tissue (qRT-PCR). With this study design, we were able to cultivate and maintain these two strains in Vero E6 cells and also propagate both strains in immunologically neutral bank voles efficiently and rapidly. Complete coding sequences of the S and M segments were determined by Sanger sequencing from RNA extracted from positive bank voles (naturally and experimentally infected) and from supernatants of Vero E6 cell extracts. For the M segment, nucleotide sequences were 100% identical for both strains. For the S segment, the amino-acid sequences from each strain revealed one mismatch between sequences obtained from tissue and from cell supernatants, revealing distinct "bank vole" and a "cell" molecular profile. High-throughput sequencing confirmed Sanger results, and provided a better assessment of the impact of isolation methods on intra-host viral diversity.

microbiology↗