Discovery of a highly divergent hepadnavirus in shrews from China

Abstract

A B S T R A C TLimited sampling means that relatively little is known about the diversity and evolutionary history of mammalian members of the Hepadnaviridae (genus Orthohepadnavirus). An important case in point are shrews, the fourth largest group of mammals, but for which there is limited knowledge on the role they play in viral evolution and emergence. Here, we report the discovery of a novel shrew hepadnavirus. The newly discovered virus, denoted shrew hepatitis B virus (SHBV), is divergent to be considered a new species of Orthohepadnavirus. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that these viruses were usually most closely related to TBHBV (tent-making bat hepatitis B virus), known to be able to infect human hepatocytes, and had a similar genome structure, although SHBV fell in a more basal position in the surface protein phylogeny. In sum, these data suggest that shrews are natural hosts for hepadnaviruses and may have played an important role in their long-term evolution. Although rodents comprise approximately 42% of living mammalian

Highly diversified shrew hepatitis B viruses corroborate ancient origins and divergent infection patterns of mammalian hepadnaviruses

“…Again, the detection rate from this site was significantly higher compared with all other Ivorian sites (Fisher exact, P < 0.0001). Likewise, all 4 MSHBV CHN Gt A-positive samples originated from the same site (11). Notably, the Ivorian MSHBV strains sampled in 2004 differed by up to 1.9% of their complete genomes and the German CSHBV strains sampled in site B in 2008 differed by up to 4.1% of their partial genomes ( Fig.…”

“…The 2 MSHBV CIV lineages thus likely also correspond to distinct genotypes. Similarly, MSHBV CHN formed 2 genotypes with 8.5-8.7% genomic distance (11). In sum, shrews host at least 3 HBV species and 6 genotypes, equaling primates in HBV species richness.…”

“…After decades at the periphery of the life sciences, diverse homologs of major human viruses have been found in eulipotyphlan hosts, suggesting they may play an underestimated role in the evolution of mammalian viruses (7)(8)(9)(10). Very recently, a divergent hepadnavirus sequence was detected in Chinese shrews (11). Shrews represent about 90% of all eulipotyphlan species (12).…”

Discovery and Genetic Characterization of Novel Paramyxoviruses Related to the Genus Henipavirus in Crocidura Species in the Republic of Korea

“…However, how the causative virus is transmitted from shrews to humans remains unknown. Additionally, shrews harbor several zoonotic viruses, including arenaviruses [11], coronaviruses [12], hantaviruses [13][14][15][16][17], rotaviruses [18], and hepadnaviruses [19]. Metagenomic studies and continuous surveillance of potential viruses in small mammals provide clues for preventive and mitigating strategies against new emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases [20][21][22][23][24][25].…”

Detection of novel orthoreovirus genomes in shrew (<i>Crocidura hirta</i>) and fruit bat (<i>Rousettus aegyptiacus</i>)

“…Phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences have shown a clear genetic difference between shrews, rodents and bats, and these animals are phylogenetically distinct from each other [11]. To date, various viruses identified in shrews, such as adenoviruses, arteriviruses, bufaviruses, hantaviruses, hepadnaviruses, herpesviruses and nairoviruses, are phylogenetically distinct from those in rodents and bats, indicating the unique shrew virome [11,13,21,24,31,32,36,37]; however, there has been no report about the presence of orthoreoviruses in shrews.…”