Detection, characterization, and phylogenetic analysis of novel astroviruses from endemic Malagasy fruit bats
Résumé
Bats (order: Chiroptera) are known to host a diverse range of viruses, some of which present a human public
health risk. Thorough viral surveillance is therefore essential to predict and potentially mitigate zoonotic spillover.
Astroviruses (family: Astroviridae) are an understudied group of viruses with a growing amount of indirect evidence
for zoonotic transfer. Astroviruses have been detected in bats with significant prevalence and diversity, suggesting
that bats may act as important astrovirus hosts. Most astrovirus surveillance in wild bat hosts has, to date, been
restricted to single-gene PCR detection and concomitant Sanger sequencing; additionally, many bat species and
many geographic regions have not yet been surveyed for astroviruses at all. Here, we use metagenomic Next
Generation Sequencing (mNGS) to detect astroviruses in three species of Madagascar fruit bats, Eidolon dupreanum,
Pteropus rufus, and Rousettus madagascariensis. We detect numerous partial sequences from all three species
and one near-full length astrovirus sequence from Rousettus madagascariensis, which we use to characterize the
evolutionary history of astroviruses both within bats and the broader mammalian clade, Mamastrovirus. Taken
together, applications of mNGS implicate bats as important astrovirus hosts and demonstrate novel patterns of bat
astrovirus evolutionary history, particularly in the Southwest Indian Ocean region.
Domaines
Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]| Origine | Publication financée par une institution |
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