RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Vertically transmitted rhabdoviruses are found across three insect families and have dynamic interactions with their hosts JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 084558 DO 10.1101/084558 A1 Ben Longdon A1 Jonathan P Day A1 Nora Schulz A1 Philip T Leftwich A1 Maaike A de Jong A1 Casper J Breuker A1 Melanie Gibbs A1 Darren J Obbard A1 Lena Wilfert A1 Sophia CL Smith A1 John E McGonigle A1 Thomas M Houslay A1 Lucy I Wright A1 Luca Livraghi A1 Luke C Evans A1 Lucy A Friend A1 Tracey Chapman A1 John Vontas A1 Natasa Kambouraki A1 Francis M Jiggins YR 2016 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/10/31/084558.abstract AB A small number of free-living viruses have been found to be obligately vertically transmitted, but it remains uncertain how widespread vertically transmitted viruses are and how quickly they can spread through host populations. Recent metagenomic studies have found several insects to be infected with sigma viruses (Rhabdoviridae). Here, we report that sigma viruses that infect Mediterranean fruit flies (Ceratitis capitata), Drosophila immigrans, and speckled wood butterflies (Pararge aegeria) are all vertically transmitted. We find patterns of vertical transmission that are consistent with those seen in Drosophila sigma viruses, with high rates of maternal transmission, and lower rates of paternal transmission. This mode of transmission allows them to spread rapidly in populations, and using viral sequence data we found the viruses in D. immigrans and C. capitata had both recently swept through host populations. The viruses were common in nature, with mean prevalences of 12% in C. capitata, 38% in D. immigrans and 74% in P. aegeria. We conclude that vertically transmitted rhabdoviruses may be widespread in insects, and that these viruses can have dynamic interactions with their hosts.