Bovine-Like Coronaviruses Isolated from Four Species of Captive Wild Ruminants Are Homologous to Bovine Coronaviruses, Based on Complete Genomic Sequences

Abstract

We sequenced and analyzed the full-length genomes of four coronaviruses (CoVs), each from a distinct wild-ruminant species in Ohio: sambar deer (Cervus unicolor), a waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus), a sable antelope (Hippotragus niger), and a white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). The fecal samples from the sambar deer, the waterbuck, and the white-tailed deer were collected during winter dysentery outbreaks and sporadic diarrhea cases in 1993 and 1994 (H. Tsunemitsu, Z. R. el-Kanawati, D. R. Smith, H. H. Reed, and L. J. Saif, J. Clin. Microbiol. 33:3264-3269, 1995). A fecal sample from a sable antelope was collected in 2003 from an Ohio wild-animal habitat during the same outbreak when a bovine-like CoV from a giraffe (GiCoV) was isolated (M. Hasoksuz, K. Alekseev, A. Vlasova, X. Zhang, D. Spiro, R. Halpin, S. Wang, E. Ghedin, and L. J. Saif, J. Virol. 81:4981-4990, 2007). For two of the CoVs (sambar deer and waterbuck), complete genomes from both the cell culture-adapted and gnotobiotic-calf-passaged strains were also sequenced and analyzed. Phylogenetically, wild-ruminant CoVs belong to group 2a CoVs, with the closest relatedness to recent bovine CoV (BCoV) strains. High nucleotide identities (99.4 to 99.6%) among the wild-ruminant strains and recent BCoV strains (BCoV-LUN and BCoV-ENT, isolated in 1998) further confirm the close relatedness. Comparative genetic analysis of CoVs of captive wild ruminants with BCoV strains suggests that no specific genomic markers are present that allow discrimination between the bovine strains and bovine-like CoVs from captive wild ruminants; furthermore, no specific genetic markers were identified that defined cell cultured or calf-passaged strains or the host origin of strains. The results of this study confirm prior reports of biologic and antigenic similarities between bovine and wild-ruminant CoVs and suggest that cattle may be reservoirs for CoVs that infect captive wild ruminants or vice versa and that these CoVs may represent host range variants of an ancestral CoV.

Detection and characterization of bovine-like coronaviruses from four species of zoo ruminants

“…Sequence analysis of the S and HE genes, however, indicated that the strains show a high similarity to BcoV. This was confirmed by phylogenetic analysis, thus supporting data obtained previously (Alekseev et al, 2008). The CoV strain isolated in this study appears to derive from the same ancestor as the BcoV 05/01 and BcoV 05/02 strains isolated from cattle in Korea.…”

“…Also, the sequences of the S and HE genes of Korean CoV strains represented on the tree grouped according to year of isolation. These data support the hypothesis that genetic difference may be related more to the time of the appearance of an outbreak than to its geographic location (Alekseev et al, 2008;Jeong et al, 2005b). The 99.9% aa identity of the five bovine-like CoV strains suggests that the zoo ruminants were infected by the same [ ( F i g .…”

Characterisation of bubaline coronavirus strains associated with gastroenteritis in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) calves

“…However, as other genomic regions were not analysed in this study, a potential origin of strain 339/07-C as recombinant virus between BuCoV and BCoV cannot be ruled out definitively. The BCoV origin or, alternatively, the presence of a common ancestor, has been hypothesised for several group 2a CoVs, including HCoV-OC43 (Vijgen et al, 2005), PHEV (Vijgen et al, 2006), CRCoV (Erles et al, 2007;Lorusso et al, 2009) and some ruminant CoVs (Hasoksuz et al, 2007;Jin et al, 2007;Alekseev et al, 2008;Decaro et al, 2008d). We have already shown that more than one BCoV strain or ancestor virus was likely involved in the origin of CRCoV, thus leading to the emergence of different canine strains (Lorusso et al, 2009).…”

Coronavirus Host Range Expansion and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Emergence: Biochemical Mechanisms and Evolutionary Perspectives

“…Some coronaviruses appear to be generalists, capable of infecting many different orders of mammals. For example, Betacoronavirus 1 has been detected in dogs, humans, and numerous ungulate species (21)(22)(23). Other coronaviruses have been detected in only a single mammalian order, such as the many SARS-like coronaviruses that have been found only in bats (24,25).…”