MBS Seminar - Genetic adaptations and enhanced antiviral immunity in Chinese horseshoe bats

Title:  Genetic adaptations and enhanced antiviral immunity in Chinese horseshoe bats

Speaker: A/Prof Aaron Irving, Zhejiang University - University of Edinburgh Institute

Abstract: Rhinolophid and Hipposiderid bats are the hosts of SARS-like viruses, yet at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic we still had very few tools available for functional studies. With the help of new reference quality Bat1K genomes, we utilized positive selection screens coupled to pathway analysis to identify multiple genes under selection specifically in these bats. We functionally validated several antiviral genes to show enhanced or altered antiviral capacity, altered cellular location and function and modified metabolism and cell viability capacity. Additionally, we have identified several genes and pathways involved in immune regulation suggesting altered capacity of these hosts to modulate their immune environment. Matched with functional studies in a range of cell lines and primary cells we show clade-specific differences in immunity that may further impact the zoonotic potential of a subset of bats. Additionally, we have identified targets and potential immune-therapeutics that may be utilized in humans to modulate host immunity. Together, this highlights the need to closely study individual species and evolutionary branches of bats to yield insight into both zoonotic spread and modulation of immunity in humans.

Bio: Dr Aaron Irving did his PhD at The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, before postdoctoral fellowships at Monash Institute of Medical Research (aka Hudson Medical Research Institute, Melbourne) with Prof. Bryan Williams and the Emerging Infectious Diseases department at Duke-NUS Medial School with Prof. Lin-Fa Wang in Singapore. He runs his laboratory at ZJE (Zhejiang University, China) with a focus on emerging zoonotic viral infections, comparative genomics and the host-pathogen interactions triggered by these viruses. There is a special interest in comparative biology using bats as a model organism and identifying key factors from bats that may be utilized to improve the human immune responses to pathogen infections. Other projects in the laboratory include novel diagnostic techniques to identify current or historical infection of wildlife by zoonotic viruses, including SARSr-CoVs, and establishing/evaluating host factors that may contribute to zoonotic spread from animals into the human population.