Possible Arbovirus Found in Virome of Melophagus ovinus

Members of the Lipopteninae subfamily are blood-sucking ectoparasites of mammals. The sheep ked (Melophagus ovinus) is a widely distributed ectoparasite of sheep. It can be found in most sheep-rearing areas and can cause skin irritation, restlessness, anemia, weight loss and skin injuries. Various bacteria and some viruses have been detected in M. ovinus; however, the virome of this ked has never been studied using modern approaches. Here, we study the virome of M. ovinus collected in the Republic of Tuva, Russia. In our research, we were able to assemble full genomes for five novel viruses, related to the Rhabdoviridae (Sigmavirus), Iflaviridae, Reoviridae and Solemoviridae families. Four viruses were found in all five of the studied pools, while one virus was found in two pools. Phylogenetically, all of the novel viruses clustered together with various recently described arthropod viruses. All the discovered viruses were tested on their ability to replicate in the mammalian porcine embryo kidney (PEK) cell line. Aksy-Durug Melophagus sigmavirus RNA was detected in the PEK cell line cultural supernate after the first, second and third passages. Such data imply that this virus might be able to replicate in mammalian cells, and thus, can be considered as a possible arbovirus.