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Transmission efficiency is a critical factor determining the size of an outbreak of infectious disease. Indeed, the propensity of SARS-CoV-2 to transmit among humans precipitated and continues to sustain the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the number of new cases among contacts is highly variable and underlying reasons for wide-ranging transmission outcomes remain unclear. Here, we evaluated viral spread in golden Syrian hamsters to define the impact of temporal and environmental conditions on the efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 transmission through the air. Our data show that exposure periods as brief as one hour are sufficient to support robust transmission. However, the timing after infection is critical for transmission success, with the highest frequency of transmission to contacts occurring at times of peak viral load in the donor animals. Relative humidity and temperature had no detectable impact on transmission when exposures were carried out with optimal timing and high inoculation dose. However, contrary to expectation, trends observed with sub-optimal exposure timing and lower inoculation dose suggest improved transmission at high relative humidity or high temperature. In sum, among the conditions tested, our data reveal the timing of exposure to be the strongest determinant of SARS-CoV-2 transmission success and implicate viral load as an important driver of transmission., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Human adenovirus type 4 (HAdV-E4) is the only type (and serotype) classified at present within species Human mastadenovirus E that has been isolated from a human host. Recent phylogenetic analysis of whole-genome sequences of strains representing the spectrum of intratypic genetic diversity described to date identified two major evolutionary lineages designated phylogroups (PGs) I and II and validated the early clustering of HAdV-E4 genomic variants into two major groups by low-resolution restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. In this study, we expanded our original analysis of intra- and inter-PG genetic variability and used a panel of viruses representative of the spectrum of genetic diversity described for HAdV-E4 to examine the magnitude of inter- and intra-PG phenotypic diversity using an array of cell-based assays and a cotton rat model of HAdV respiratory infection. Our proteotyping of HAdV-E strains using concatenated protein sequences in selected coding regions including E1A, E1B-19K and -55K, DNA polymerase, L4-100K, various E3 proteins, and E4-34K confirmed that the two clades encode distinct variants/proteotypes at most of these loci. Our in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that PG I and PG II differ in their growth, spread, and cell-killing phenotypes in cell culture and in their pulmonary pathogenic phenotypes. Surprisingly, the differences in replicative fitness documented in vitro between PGs did not correlate with the differences in virulence observed in the cotton rat model. This body of work is the first reporting phenotypic correlates of naturally occurring intratypic genetic variability for HAdV-E4. IMPORTANCE Human adenovirus type 4 (HAdV-E4) is a prevalent causative agent of acute respiratory illness of variable severity and of conjunctivitis and comprises two major phylogroups that carry distinct coding variations in proteins involved in viral replication and modulation of host responses to infection. Our data show that phylogroup (PG) I and PG II are intrinsically different regarding their ability to grow and spread in culture and to cause pulmonary disease in cotton rats. This is the first report of phenotypic divergence among naturally occurring known genetic variants of an HAdV type of medical importance. This research reveals readily detectable phenotypic differences between strains representing phylogroups I and II, and it introduces a unique experimental system for the elucidation of the genetic basis of adenovirus fitness and virulence and thus for increasing our understanding of the implications of intratypic genetic diversity in the presentation and course of HAdV-E4-associated disease.

The 2'-5'-oligoadenylate synthetases (OAS) are innate immune sensors of cytosolic double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) that play a critical role in limiting viral infection. How these proteins are able to avoid aberrant activation by cellular RNAs is not fully understood, but adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) editing has been proposed to limit accumulation of endogenous RNAs that might otherwise cause stimulation of the OAS/RNase L pathway. Here, we aim to uncover whether and how such sequence modifications can restrict the ability of short, defined dsRNAs to activate the single-domain form of OAS, OAS1. Unexpectedly, we find that all tested inosine-containing dsRNAs have an increased capacity to activate OAS1, whether in a destabilizing (I•U) or standard Watson-Crick-like base pairing (I-C) context. Additional variants with strongly destabilizing A•C mismatches or stabilizing G-C pairs also exhibit increased capacity to activate OAS1, eliminating helical stability as a factor in the relative ability of the dsRNAs to activate OAS1. Using thermal difference spectra and molecular dynamics simulations, we identify both increased helical dynamics and specific local changes in helical structure as important factors in the capacity of short dsRNAs to activate OAS1. These helical features may facilitate more ready adoption of the distorted OAS1-bound conformation or stabilize important structures to predispose the dsRNA for optimal binding and activation of OAS1. These studies thus reveal the molecular basis for the greater capacity of some short dsRNAs to activate OAS1 in a sequence-independent manner., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interest., (Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.)

Species Human mastadenovirus E (HAdV-E) comprises several simian types and a single human type: HAdV-E4, a respiratory and ocular pathogen. RFLP analysis for the characterization of intratypic genetic variability has previously distinguished two HAdV-E4 clusters: prototype (p)-like and a-like. Our analysis of whole genome sequences confirmed two distinct lineages, which we refer to as phylogroups (PGs). PGs I and II comprise the p- and a-like genomes, respectively, and differ significantly in their G + C content (57.7% ± 0.013 vs 56.3% ± 0.015). Sequence differences distinguishing the two clades map to several regions of the genome including E3 and ITR. Bayesian analyses showed that the two phylogroups diverged approximately 602 years before the present. A relatively faster evolutionary rate was identified for PG II. Our data provide a rationale for the incorporation of phylogroup identity to HAdV-E4 strain designation to reflect the identified unique genetic characteristics that distinguish PGs I and II., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Human adenovirus type 4 (HAdV-4) is most commonly isolated in military settings. We conducted detailed molecular characterization on 36 HAdV-4 isolates recovered from civilian adults with acute respiratory disease (ARD) in the northeastern United States during 2011-2015. Specimens came from college students, residents of long-term care facilities or nursing homes, a cancer patient, and young adults without co-morbidities. HAdV-4 genome types 4a1 and 4a2, the variants most frequently detected among US military recruits in basic training before the restoration of vaccination protocols, were isolated in most cases. Two novel a-like variants were recovered from students enrolled at a college in Tompkins County, New York, USA, and a prototype-like variant distinguishable from the vaccine strain was isolated from an 18-year-old woman visiting a physician's office in Ulster County, New York, USA, with symptoms of influenza-like illness. Our data suggest that HAdV-4 might be an underestimated causative agent of ARD among civilian adults.

The unique repertoire of genes that characterizes the early region 3 (E3) of the different species of human adenovirus (HAdV) likely contributes to their distinct pathogenic traits. The function of many E3 CR1 proteins remains unknown possibly due to unidentified intrinsic properties that make them difficult to express ectopically. This study shows that the species HAdV-B- and HAdV-E-specific E3 CR1 genes can be expressed from vectors carrying the HAdV tripartite leader (TPL) sequence but not from traditional mammalian expression vectors. Insertion of the TPL sequence upstream of the HAdV-B and HAdV-E E3 CR1 open reading frames was sufficient to rescue protein expression from pCI-neo constructs in transfected 293T cells. The detection of higher levels of HAdV-B and HAdV-E E3 CR1 transcripts suggests that the TPL sequence may enhance gene expression at both the transcriptional and translational levels. Our findings will facilitate the characterization of additional AdV E3 proteins., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)