Lee, Chih-ChiHsu, Hung-WeiLin, Chun-YiGustafson, NicolasMatsuura, KenjiLee, Chow-YangYang, Chin-Cheng Scotty2022-10-132022-10-132022-09-30Lee, C.-C.; Hsu, H.-W.; Lin, C.-Y.; Gustafson, N.; Matsuura, K.; Lee, C.-Y.; Yang, C.-C.S. First Polycipivirus and Unmapped RNA Virus Diversity in the Yellow Crazy Ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes. Viruses 2022, 14, 2161.http://hdl.handle.net/10919/112146The yellow crazy ant, <i>Anoplolepis gracilipes</i> is a widespread invasive ant that poses significant threats to local biodiversity. Yet, compared to other global invasive ant species such as the red imported fire ant (<i>Solenopsis invicta</i>) or the Argentine ant (<i>Linepithema humile</i>), little is known about the diversity of RNA viruses in the yellow crazy ant. In the current study, we generated a transcriptomic database for <i>A</i>. <i>gracilipes</i> using a high throughput sequencing approach to identify new RNA viruses and characterize their genomes. Four virus species assigned to <i>Dicistroviridae</i>, two to <i>Iflaviridae</i>, one to <i>Polycipiviridae</i>, and two unclassified <i>Riboviria</i> viruses were identified. Detailed genomic characterization was carried out on the polycipivirus and revealed that this virus comprises 11,644 nucleotides with six open reading frames. Phylogenetic analysis and pairwise amino acid identity comparison classified this virus into the genus <i>Sopolycivirus</i> under <i>Polycipiviridae</i>, which is tentatively named &ldquo;<i>Anoplolepis gracilipes</i> virus 3 (AgrV-3)&rdquo;. Evolutionary analysis showed that AgrV-3 possesses a high level of genetic diversity and elevated mutation rate, combined with the common presence of multiple viral strains within single worker individuals, suggesting AgrV-3 likely evolves following the quasispecies model. A subsequent field survey placed the viral pathogen &ldquo;hotspot&rdquo; of <i>A. gracilipes</i> in the Southeast Asian region, a pattern consistent with the region being recognized as part of the ant&rsquo;s native range. Lastly, infection of multiple virus species seems prevalent across field colonies and may have been linked to the ant&rsquo;s social organization.application/pdfenCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalinvasive antinsect viruspolycipiviridaeSopolyciviruspicornavirusviromeRNA virusArticle - Refereed2022-10-13https://doi.org/10.3390/v14102161