Non-structural genes of novel lemur adenoviruses reveal codivergence of virus and host

Abstract

Adenoviruses are important human and animal pathogens, and are frequently used as vectors for gene therapy and vaccine delivery. Surprisingly, there are only scant data regarding primate adenovirus origin and evolution, especially in the most basal primate hosts. We detect and sequence adenoviruses from faeces of two Madagascan lemur species. Complete genome sequence analyses define a new adenovirus species with a particularly large gene encoding a protein of unknown function in the early gene region 3. Unexpectedly, the new adenovirus species is not most similar to human or other simian adenoviruses, but to bat adenovirus C. Genome characterisation shows signals of virus-host codivergence in non-structural genes, which show lower diversity than structural genes. Similar to the recombination pattern observed in human adenovirus C, recombination less frequently separates structural genes. However, with the exception of the recombination pattern in a lemur species mixing zone. The evolutionary history of lemur adenoviruses likely involves both a host switch and codivergence with the lemur hosts.

Nutritional and Possible Pharmaceutical Aspects of Tree Exudates Eaten by Lemurs of Madagascar’s Dry Forests

“…Since there is little information available on the bacterial composition of the digestive tract of lemurs and the microbiome of Microcebus griseorufus can vary substantially under different conditions [46][47][48][49][50], and viruses can show regional co-evolution with hosts with unknown consequences for co-infections [51], we used standard laboratory bacteria for our antibacterial tests. The test organisms were the gram-negative Escherichia coli (ESCH 006…”