Cited by 8Genomics and Phylogenetic StudiesPlant Virus Research StudiesBacteriophages and microbial interactions

WIV, a protein domain found in a wide number of arthropod viruses, which probably facilitates infection

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Karlin, David G.·2024·Journal of General Virology

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

The most powerful approach to detect distant homologues of a protein is based on structure prediction and comparison. Yet this approach is still inapplicable to many viral proteins. Therefore, we applied a powerful sequence-based procedure to identify distant homologues of viral proteins. It relies on three principles: (1) traces of sequence similarity can persist beyond the significance cutoff of homology detection programmes; (2) candidate homologues can be identified among proteins with weak sequence similarity to the query by using ‘contextual’ information, e.g. taxonomy or type of host infected; (3) these candidate homologues can be validated using highly sensitive profile–profile comparison. As a test case, this approach was applied to a protein without known homologues, encoded by ORF4 of Lake Sinai viruses (which infect bees). We discovered that the ORF4 protein contains a domain that has homologues in proteins from >20 taxa of viruses infecting arthropods. We called this domain ‘widespread, intriguing, versatile’ (WIV), because it is found in proteins with a wide variety of functions and within varied domain contexts. For example, WIV is found in the NSs protein of tospoviruses, a global threat to food security, which infect plants as well as their arthropod vectors; in the RNA2 ORF1-encoded protein of chronic bee paralysis virus, a widespread virus of bees; and in various proteins of cypoviruses, which infect the silkworm Bombyx mori. Structural modelling with AlphaFold indicated that the WIV domain has a previously unknown fold, and bibliographical evidence suggests that it facilitates infection of arthropods.

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Authors
Karlin, D. G.
Affiliations
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)
Corresponding author
Karlin, David G.
Venue
Journal of General Virology
Published
2024-01-09
Volume
105
Issue
1
ISSN
  • 0022-1317 (ISSN-L)
  • 1465-2099
OpenAlex
W4390706080
Cited by
8
References
108
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4
FWCI
1.09
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Journal of General Virology (publishedVersion)
  • Preprints.org (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Plant Virus Research Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
Keywords
arthropod viruses, Lake Sinai virus, chronic bee paralysis virus, Bombyx mori, protein structure prediction, AlphaFold
MeSH terms
Protein Domains, Animals, Arthropod Vectors, Arthropods, Bees, Reoviridae, Bombyx, Viral Proteins

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