What is “chaq” virus besides a Klingon word?
Category: Research Poster
Author(s): Lauren OBrien
Presenter(s): Lauren OBrien
Mentors(s): Mark Stenglein
Galbut virus, a persistent RNA virus that infects the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, is believed to have a tri-segmented genome. Nonetheless, recent studies have identified a 4th RNA segment associated with infection named chaq virus. But it's not clear what this RNA is. This uncertainty is reflected in the name chaq, which means "maybe" in Klingon. We hypothesized that chaq virus is instead an independent satellite virus of galbut virus capsids. Satellite viruses rely on their helper virus to allow their own replication and transmission, which means chaq virus could be influencing galbut virus ecology, virulence, and evolution. In this project, I isolated viral capsid particles of chaq and galbut virus from infected Drosophila via filtration-based purification and density gradient ultracentrifugation. The presence of chaq and galbut virus particles was identified by Western blot and imaged via electron microscopy to visualize putative capsid proteins. To confirm the identity of the putative chaq capsids, further testing via RT-qPCR will confirm the presence of Chaq RNA. This work will provide insight into the functional relationship between chaq and galbut virus and provide new information to the understanding of virus-virus interactions.