Characterization of the viral genomes present in commercial batches of horse serum obtained by high-throughput sequencing.

The research article focuses on the characterization of viral genomes found in horse serum, which is often used in biological production and cell culture. By using high-throughput sequencing, the researchers identified different types of viruses in commercial horse serum sourced from New Zealand, Brazil, and the United States.

Objective of the research

• The primary objective of the research was to analyze and describe the virome, or the viral content, of commercial horse serum (HS) collected from three different countries.
• The researchers used high-throughput sequencing (HTS), an advanced technique that helps in detecting viruses without prior knowledge of their specific targets. This technique was instrumental in identifying the range of viruses present in the commercial HS batches.

Methodology

• Five different batches of commercial HS were taken, with three batches from New Zealand, and one each from Brazil and the United States.
• The HS from each batch was processed and sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq platform, a popular HTS system that can read and analyze multiple large sets of DNA sequences at once.

Findings

• The researchers detected sequences related to different families of viruses, including Flaviviridae, Herpesviridae, and Parvoviridae.
• Among these, equine hepacivirus (EqHV), equine pegivirus (EPgV), and Theiler’s disease-associated virus (TDAV) were found more frequently in the analyzed HS batches.

Implications

• The research showed that commercial horse serum can contain a mixture of different viruses, indicating the potential for these to be infectious for susceptible hosts.
• This discovery underscores the importance of ensuring the innocuity, or harmlessness, of commercial HS for the efficiency and security of diagnostics and the production of biological products. Extra precaution is needed when these commercial sera are to be used for tasks related to cellular culture or the production of vaccines.