Molecular detection and genomic characterization of diverse hepaciviruses in African rodents.

Autor:	Bletsa M; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium., Vrancken B; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium., Gryseels S; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.; Department of Biology, Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium., Boonen I; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium., Fikatas A; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium., Li Y; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium., Laudisoit A; EcoHealth Alliance, New York, NY, USA., Lequime S; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium., Bryja J; Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic., Makundi R; Pest Management Center -Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania., Meheretu Y; Department of Biology and Institute of Mountain Research & Development, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia., Akaibe BD; Department of Ecology and Animal Resource Management, Faculty of Science, Biodiversity Monitoring Center, University of Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo., Mbalitini SG; Department of Ecology and Animal Resource Management, Faculty of Science, Biodiversity Monitoring Center, University of Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo., Van de Perre F; Department of Biology, Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium., Van Houtte N; Department of Biology, Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium., Těšíková J; Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.; Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic., Wollants E; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium., Van Ranst M; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium., Pybus OG; Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.; Department of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, The Royal Veterinary College, London, UK., Drexler JF; Charite-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.; German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Berlin, Germany., Verheyen E; Department of Biology, Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.; OD Taxonomy and Phylogeny-Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium., Leirs H; Department of Biology, Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium., Gouy de Bellocq J; Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic., Lemey P; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Virus evolution [Virus Evol] 2021 Apr 12; Vol. 7 (1), pp. veab036. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Apr 12 (Print Publication: 2021).
DOI:	10.1093/ve/veab036
Abstrakt:	Hepatitis C virus (HCV; genus Hepacivirus ) represents a major public health problem, infecting about three per cent of the human population. Because no animal reservoir carrying closely related hepaciviruses has been identified, the zoonotic origins of HCV still remain unresolved. Motivated by recent findings of divergent hepaciviruses in rodents and a plausible African origin of HCV genotypes, we have screened a large collection of small mammals samples from seven sub-Saharan African countries. Out of 4,303 samples screened, eighty were found positive for the presence of hepaciviruses in twenty-nine different host species. We, here, report fifty-six novel genomes that considerably increase the diversity of three divergent rodent hepacivirus lineages. Furthermore, we provide strong evidence for hepacivirus co-infections in rodents, which were exclusively found in four sampled species of brush-furred mice. We also detect evidence of recombination within specific host lineages. Our study expands the available hepacivirus genomic data and contributes insights into the relatively deep evolutionary history of these pathogens in rodents. Overall, our results emphasize the importance of rodents as a potential hepacivirus reservoir and as models for investigating HCV infection dynamics. (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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