Ledantevirus: A Proposed New Genus in the Rhabdoviridae has a Strong Ecological Association with Bats

Abstract

The Le Dantec serogroup of rhabdoviruses comprises Le Dantec virus from a human with encephalitis and Keuriliba virus from rodents, each isolated in Senegal. The Kern Canyon serogroup comprises a loosely connected set of rhabdoviruses many of which have been isolated from bats, including Kern Canyon virus from California, Nkolbisson virus from Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Cote d'Ivoire, Kolente virus from Guinea, Mount Elgon bat and Fikirini viruses from Kenya, and Oita virus from Japan. Fukuoka virus isolated from mosquitoes, midges, and cattle in Japan, Barur virus from a rodent in India and Nishimuro virus from pigs in Japan have also been linked genetically or serologically to this group. Here, we analyze the genome sequences and phylogenetic relationships of this set of viruses. We show that they form three subgroups within a monophyletic group, which we propose should constitute the new genus Ledantevirus.

Molecular detection and sequence characterization of diverse rhabdoviruses in bats, China

“…In 2011, the ICTV listed 54 species, increasing to 75 in the 2015 report. By 2016, five new genera Almendravirus, Curiovirus, Hapavirus, Ledantevirus and Sripuvirus with 69 novel species had been approved, bringing a total of 131 species into 18 genera with additional numerous unclassified viruses (Adams et al, 2017;Blasdell et al, 2015;Contreras et al, 2017;Li et al, 2015;. According to the species demarcation criteria of Vesiculovirus proposed by ICTV, JHBV, identified here, meets the requirements for a new vesiculovirus species.…”

The family Rhabdoviridae: mono- and bipartite negative-sense RNA viruses with diverse genome organization and common evolutionary origins

“…Others like the recently designated ledanteviruses (Blasdell et al, 2015), not only exhibit a strong ecological association with bats, but also a broader natural host specificity (e.g. ungulates, rodents and humans) suggesting spill over from their natural reservoir.…”

“…Ledanteviruses infect humans, rodents, and ungulates, may be vectored by arthropods and have a strong association with bats, suggesting spill over from their natural reservoir (Blasdell et al, 2015; Walker et al, 2015). They are anchored by the prototype Le Dantec virus (LDV), whose genome comprises the five canonical structural protein genes, an additional transcriptional unit (U1), encoding a small protein between the G and L genes, and a small ORF that occurs in an alternative reading frame in the N gene, which likely is not expressed (Fig.…”

Taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales: update 2017

“…The largest newly created rhabdovirus genus is Ledantevirus . This genus includes 14 new species for Barur virus, Fikirini virus, Fukuoka virus, Kern Canyon virus, Keuraliba virus, Kolente virus, Kumasi rhabdovirus, Le Dantec virus, Mount Elgon bat virus, Nkolbisson virus, Nishimuro virus, Oita virus, Wǔhàn louse fly virus 5, and Yǒngjiā tick virus 2, which were isolated from or detected in arthropods and/or mammals [6, 10, 18, 28, 38, 44] (TaxoProp 2016.006a-dM.A.v2.Ledantevirus). Finally, the novel genus Sripuvirus was created to include five new species for sandfly and lizard viruses (Almpiwar virus, Chaco virus, Niakha virus, Sena Madureira virus, and Sripur virus) [29, 41, 44] (TaxoProp 2016.007a-dM.A.v5.Sripuvirus).…”