Publications des scientifiques de l'IRD

Balique F., Colson P., Barry A. O., Nappez C., Ferretti A., Al Moussawi K., Ngounga T., Lepidi H., Ghigo E., Mege J. L., Lecoq H., Raoult Didier. (2013). Tobacco Mosaic Virus in the lungs of mice following intra-tracheal inoculation. Plos One, 8 (1), p. e54993. ISSN 1932-6203.

Titre du document
Tobacco Mosaic Virus in the lungs of mice following intra-tracheal inoculation
Année de publication
2013
Type de document
Article référencé dans le Web of Science WOS:000315563800091
Auteurs
Balique F., Colson P., Barry A. O., Nappez C., Ferretti A., Al Moussawi K., Ngounga T., Lepidi H., Ghigo E., Mege J. L., Lecoq H., Raoult Didier
Source
Plos One, 2013, 8 (1), p. e54993 ISSN 1932-6203
Plant viruses are generally considered incapable of infecting vertebrates. Accordingly, they are not considered harmful for humans. However, a few studies questioned the certainty of this paradigm. Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) RNA has been detected in human samples and TMV RNA translation has been described in animal cells. We sought to determine if TMV is detectable, persists, and remains viable in the lung tissues of mice following intratracheal inoculation, and we attempted to inoculate mouse macrophages with TMV. In the animal model, mice were intratracheally inoculated with 10(11) viral particles and were sacrificed at different time points. The virus was detected in the mouse lungs using immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy, real-time RT-PCR and sequencing, and its viability was studied with an infectivity assay on plants. In the cellular model, the culture medium of murine bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDM) was inoculated with different concentrations of TMV, and the virus was detected with real-time RT-PCR and immunofluorescence. In addition, anti-TMV antibodies were detected in mouse sera with ELISA. We showed that infectious TMV could enter and persist in mouse lungs via the intratracheal route. Over 14 days, the TMV RNA level decreased by 5 log(10) copies/ml in the mouse lungs and by 3.5 log(10) in macrophages recovered from bronchoalveolar lavage. TMV was localized to lung tissue, and its infectivity was observed on plants until 3 days after inoculation. In addition, anti-TMV antibody seroconversions were observed in the sera from mice 7 days after inoculation. In the cellular model, we observed that TMV persisted over 15 days after inoculation and it was visualized in the cytoplasm of the BMDM. This work shows that a plant virus, Tobacco mosaic virus, could persist and enter in cells in mammals, which raises questions about the potential interactions between TMV and human hosts.
Plan de classement
Sciences fondamentales / Techniques d'analyse et de recherche [020] ; Entomologie médicale / Parasitologie / Virologie [052] ; Sciences du monde végétal [076]
Identifiant IRD
PAR00010326
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