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An outbreak of viral encephalitis occurred in Gorakhpur, India, from July through November 2005. The etiologic agent was confirmed to be Japanese encephalitis virus by analyzing 326 acute-phase clinical specimens for virus-specific antibodies and viral RNA and by virus isolation. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these isolates belonged to genogroup 3.

HighlightHeat susceptible and tolerant rice genotypes have different landscapes of miRNAs and the tolerant genotypes show efficient recovery mediated by miRNAs. Roots regulate miRNAs more sensitively than shoots during heat stress.

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Dengue is endemic in most parts of the tropics including India. So far, complete genome information for Indian dengue isolates is not available. In the present study, we characterized the genome of three dengue type 3 viruses isolated from India. The genomes of all three viruses were found to be 10 707 bp long with an ORF encoding 3390 aa. Extensive molecular phylogenetic analysis based on comparison of the complete genome and envelope gene classified the recent Indian viruses into genotype III (lineage III), revealing a shift of lineage from lineage V. The sequence analysis revealed several non-conservative changes in major structural proteins. This study clearly indicates that the genotype III (lineage III) dengue type 3 viruses have been continuously circulating in major parts of India since 2003 and are responsible for the recent major outbreaks all over India. This is the first extensive study on complete genome analysis of dengue type 3 viruses in India.Dengue/dengue haemorrhagic fever (DF/DHF) has emerged as the most important mosquito-borne human viral infection of the 21st century. An estimated 100 million dengue infections are now reported annually around the world. Dengue is caused by four antigenically and genetically distinct, single-stranded positive-sense RNA viruses designated dengue virus types 1-4 (DENV-1-4). Dengue viruses belong to the genus Flavivirus of the family Flaviviridae. The genome of dengue virus is approximately 10.7 kb in length and contains a single ORF that encodes three structural [capsid (C), premembrane (prM) and envelope (E)] and seven non-structural (NS) proteins (NS1, Ns2a, NS2b, NS3, NS4a, NS4b and NS5) (Gubler, 1998).Dengue infection is characterized by a spectrum of illness ranging from mild, self-limiting dengue fever to lifethreatening dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). The pathogenesis of DHF and DSS is poorly understood. However, several hypotheses, such as antibody dependent enhancement in heterotypic secondary dengue infections, involvement of a virulent viral genotype and host factors, have been suggested to explain this mechanism (Leitmeyer et al., 1999;Rico-Hesse et al., 1997;Messer et al., 2003).All the DENV serotypes are further classified into multiple subtypes/genotypes based on their genomic diversity (Weaver & Vasilakis, 2009). Five distinct genotypes of DENV-3 have been identified to date (Lanciotti et al., 1994;Wittke et al., 2002;Uzcategui et al., 2003). Genotypes I-III are responsible for most DENV-3 infections and have been associated with DF/DHF epidemics in South East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the south Pacific, East Africa and the Americas. Genotypes IV and V were not associated with DHF epidemics and are only represented by a few early sequences from the Americas, the south Pacific and Asia, with the exception of recent reports regarding genotype V-related cases from Brazil and Colombia (Aquino et al., 2009).In India, the frequency of DHF outbreaks have increased at an alarming rate over the past 15 years. Deng...