Detection and phylogenetic analysis of adenoviruses occurring in a single anole species

Abstract

Adenoviruses (AdVs) infect a wide range of hosts, and they have undergone recent and ancient host transfers multiple times. In reptiles, AdVs have been found in many captive individuals, and have been implicated in morbidity and mortality in several species. Yet the pathogenicity, transmission, phylogenetic distribution, and source of AdVs in the environment are still unknown. We therefore chose to opportunistically sample deceased captive Anolis sagrei individuals that were collected from different populations in the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands, as well as fecal samples from one island population, to explore the disease dynamics and diversity of adenovirus infecting A. sagrei populations. We found that adenovirus infection was present in our captive colony at low prevalence (26%), and was likely not the primary cause of observed morbidity and mortality. Among the 10 individuals (out of 38 sampled) which tested positive for adenovirus, we identified four adenovirus clades, several of which are distantly related, despite the close relationships of the A. sagrei host populations. These results suggest that while adenovirus may not be highly prevalent in the wild, it is present at low levels across much of the range of A. sagrei. It may undergo frequent host switching across both deep and shallow host divergences.

Genomics‐based re‐examination of the taxonomy and phylogeny of human and simian Mastadenoviruses: an evolving whole genomes approach, revealing putative zoonosis, anthroponosis, and amphizoonosis

“…To that end, we present the largest, comprehensive, phylogenetic analysis performed to date of HAdVs and SAdVs circulating worldwide. The trees in this study are very similar to those constructed previously both as preliminary trials and in other studies reported, albeit in small-scale datasets and recovered using different phylogenetic methods (Prado-Irwin et al, 2018;Harrach et al, 2019), with some minor changes in tree topology that do not affect our major conclusions. This larger phylogenomic study of the primate adenoviruses, particularly of 174 whole genomes, allows a more precise and comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary relationship of human and simian adenoviruses.…”

Adenoviruses across the animal kingdom: a walk in the zoo

“…The newly discovered hosts include, among others, Mexican beaded lizard and gila, from each of which an isolated strain was obtained as well. From free‐living individuals, bearded dragons, anole lizards, and worm lizards, more reliable data can be deduced, which usually confirm a link between a certain host species and AdV type . The full genome of lizard AdV‐2, isolated from Mexican beaded lizard, was determined and the structure of the virion was also studied.…”

Complete Genome Sequence, Molecular Characterization and Phylogenetic Relationships of a Novel Tern Atadenovirus

“…Most of the previously published phylogenies of the family Adenoviridae were obtained using the single-locus approach. To construct a phylogenetic tree, the alignment of the sequences of individual genes or proteins encoded by them, in particular, DNA-dependent DNA polymerase [1, [73][74][75], hexon [4,[76][77][78], penton base, or fiber-2 [59] is traditionally used.…”