Reply to Kjartansdóttir et al.: Chlorovirus ATCV-1 findings not explained by contamination

Authors

Robert H. Yolken, Johns Hopkins School of MedicineFollow
Lorraine Jones-Brando, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
David Dunigan, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Geetha Kannan, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Faith Dickerson, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore
Emily Severance, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Sarven Sabunciyan, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
C. Conover Talbot Jr., The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Emese Prandovszky, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
James Gurnon, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Irina Agarkova, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Flora Leister, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Kristin L. Gressitt, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Ou Chen, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Bryan Deuber, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Fangrui Ma, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Mikhail V. Pletnikov, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
James L. Van Etten, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

3-3-2015

Citation

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Mar 3; 112(9): E927.

Published online 2015 Feb 5.

doi: 10.1073/pnas.1424665112

PMCID: PMC43527

Comments

Copyright 2015 PNAS; used by permission.

Abstract

We agree with Kjartansdóttir et al. (1) that extreme caution must be used when interpreting high-throughput sequencing results in new hosts. The situation demands thorough investigation and validation beyond the identification of a few sequencing reads. However, we believe it is unlikely that random laboratory contamination explains the results reported in Yolken et al. (2) for the following reasons. ...

Therefore, the conclusions in our report are based not only on “a few sequence reads” (1), but on confirmatory assays, as well as a highly controlled animal model of oral exposure and subsequent measurement of immune response and behavior. We hope that our work will stimulate further research relating to the possible role of ATCV-1 and other phycodnaviruses in the human virome, and the biological mechanisms of viral interaction with humans and other mammals. These studies would include the measurement of ATCV-1–like sequences at other body sites and the measurement of an immune response to ATCV-1 proteins in humans living in different areas of the world, as well as studies of virus–cell interactions.