Coinfections of Novel Polyomavirus, Anelloviruses and a Recombinant Strain of Myxoma Virus-MYXV-Tol Identified in Iberian Hares

Abstract

Viruses are ubiquitous in nature; however, very few have been identified in the Leporid species. In the fall of 2018, an outbreak of myxomatosis in Iberian hares (Lepus granatensis) was reported in Spain and a novel recombinant myxoma virus strain (MYXV-Tol) was identified. To investigate variability within the recombinant region of the MYXV-Tol and identify any potential viral coinfections, samples (ear, eyelid or vaginal) of Iberian hares were collected from Spain and analyzed. The presence of the recombinant region of the MYXV-Tol was confirmed in six out of eleven samples analyzed. Additionally, a polyomavirus (family Polyomaviridae), representing a putative new species, and anelloviruses (family Anelloviridae) belonging to two putative species were identified, some as coinfection with the recombinant MYXV-Tol. The two polyomavirus genomes were identified in two hares and share >99% genome-wide identity. Based on the analysis of their large T-antigen, the new polyomavirus clusters in a distant clade from other mammals sharing <64% amino acid identity. A total of 14 anelloviruses were identified, which share 63–99% genome-wide identity. Overall, our results show a coinfection of different DNA viruses in the studied samples and raise awareness regarding the extensive unsampled diversity of viruses in hares.

Identification of a Novel Myxoma Virus C7-Like Host Range Factor That Enabled a Species Leap from Rabbits to Hares

“…Recently, we characterized for the first time the full genome of recombinant MYXV variants (MYXV strain Toledo [MYXV-Tol], also previously described as ha-MYXV Tol08-18) capable of causing myxomatosis in a Lepus species ( 7 – 9 ). MYXV-Tol has high similarity to the MYXV-Lau strain previously released in Europe, with the exception of three disrupted genes ( M009L , M036L , and M152R ) plus a recombinantly derived cassette (recTol) of ∼2,800 bp from an unknown/unsampled poxvirus donor genome, which, based on the arrangement of the gene sequences, most closely resembles that from ungulate-associated poxviruses.…”

“…MYXV-Tol has high similarity to the MYXV-Lau strain previously released in Europe, with the exception of three disrupted genes ( M009L , M036L , and M152R ) plus a recombinantly derived cassette (recTol) of ∼2,800 bp from an unknown/unsampled poxvirus donor genome, which, based on the arrangement of the gene sequences, most closely resembles that from ungulate-associated poxviruses. The new recombinant cassette found in MYXV-Tol encodes a known poxviral structural protein (M157), a thymidine kinase (M158), a C7-like (C7L) host range protein (M159), and a poly(A) polymerase subunit (M160), which are most closely similar, but not identical, to the MYXV M060R , M061R , M064R , and M065R genes, respectively ( 7 , 8 ). Analyses show that the newly discovered M159 protein encoded by MYXV-Tol has a high pairwise identity to the previously described MYXV host range proteins M064R and M062R that belong to the C7L family of host range factors ( 7 , 9 ).…”

Torque Teno Sus Virus (TTSuV) Prevalence in Wild Fauna of Northern Italy

“…TTVs are ubiquitous viruses and have been often detected in mammalian species, including dogs, cats, swine, cattle, sheep, wild boars, hares, and non-human primates [9][10][11][12][13][14]. TTVs are genetically distinct and are classified in a species-specific manner, although the genomes of TTVs detected from several animal species, including humans, show a similar organization [15].…”