Diverse replication-associated protein encoding circular DNA viruses in guano samples of Central-Eastern European bats

Abstract

Circular replication-associated protein encoding single-stranded DNA (CRESS DNA) viruses are increasingly recognized worldwide in a variety of samples. Representative members include well-described veterinary pathogens with worldwide distribution, such as porcine circoviruses or beak and feather disease virus. In addition, numerous novel viruses belonging to the family Circoviridae with unverified pathogenic roles have been discovered in different human samples. Viruses of the family Genomoviridae have also been described as being highly abundant in different faecal and environmental samples, with case reports showing them to be suspected pathogens in human infections. In order to investigate the genetic diversity of these viruses in European bat populations, we tested guano samples from Georgia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. This resulted in the detection of six novel members of the family Circoviridae and two novel members of the family Genomoviridae. Interestingly, a gemini-like virus, namely niminivirus, which was originally found in raw sewage samples in Nigeria, was also detected in our samples. We analyzed the nucleotide composition of members of the family Circoviridae to determine the possible host origins of these viruses. This study provides the first dataset on CRESS DNA viruses of European bats, and members of several novel viral species were discovered.

A Preliminary Study of the Virome of the South American Free-Tailed Bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) and Identification of Two Novel Mammalian Viruses

“…TbGkyV1 is a novel species within the Gemykibivirus genus according to the classification criteria [70]. It should be noted that the Rep and Cap proteins of TbGkyV1 exhibited different percentages of similarity, the Cap being considerably more divergent than the Rep, indicating differences in their evolutionary histories due to their respective molecular functions [70,106]. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating the presence of genomoviral sequences in mucosal swab samples of a New World bat species.…”

“…However, no direct implication with a disease has been demonstrated so far. In particular, bat-associated genomoviruses have been identified from feces [105,106] or pharyngeal and anal swab samples [89] of Asiatic [89,105] or European [106] bat species and have been attributed to various taxonomic genera of the Genomoviridae family [70]. TbGkyV1 is a novel species within the Gemykibivirus genus according to the classification criteria [70].…”

Update on Potentially Zoonotic Viruses of European Bats

“…Since 2014 portable sequencing via Oxford nanopore is on the rise [ 20 , 21 ]. Metagenomics and viromics have become standard applications in the virological research communities, leading to increased virus discovery results in European bats [ 15 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. However, isolation of viruses is still the gold standard in virology for subsequent functional characterization and it will be very hard to replace this method.…”

The virome of the white-winged vampire bat Diaemus youngi is rich in circular DNA viruses

“…To the best of our knowledge, this report presents the first detection of a genomovirus in white-winged bats and the first detection of Gemykrogvirus in bats. Members of this family have already been detected in insectivorous and frugivorous bat species: Gemycirculavirus has been detected in the intermediate roundleaf bat ( Hipposideros larvatus ) in China in 2016 (unpublished), in the Pacific flying bat ( Pteropus tonganus ), in Tonga in 2015 [ 45 ], in the Eastern bent-wing bat ( Miniopterus fuliginosus ) in China in 2012 [ 46 ] and in European vespertilionid bats [ 47 ]. Gemykibivirus has been described in the greater horseshoe bat ( Rhinolophus ferrumequinum ) in China in 2013 [ 46 ] and in a Brazilian free-tailed bat ( Tadarida brasiliensis ) in Argentina in 2006.…”