Reassortment events in the evolution of hantaviruses

Abstract

Hantaviruses (order Bunyavirales, family Hantaviridae), known as important zoonotic human pathogens, possess the capacity to exchange genome segments via genetic reassortment due to their tri-segmented genome. Although not as frequent as in the arthropod-borne bunyaviruses, reports indicating reassortment events in the evolution of hantaviruses have been recently accumulating. The intra- and inter-lineage reassortment between closely related variants has been repeatedly reported for several hantaviruses including the rodent-borne human pathogens such as Sin Nombre virus, Puumala virus, Dobrava-Belgrade virus, or Hantaan virus as well as for the more recently recognized shrew-borne hantaviruses, Imjin and Seewis. Reassortment between more distantly related viruses was rarely found but seems to play a beneficial role in the process of crossing the host species barriers. Besides the findings based on phylogenetic studies of naturally occurring strains, hantavirus reassortants were generated also in in vitro studies. Interestingly, only reassortants with exchanged M segments could be generated suggesting that a high degree of genetic compatibility is required for the S and L segments while the exchange of M segment is better tolerated or is particularly beneficial. Altogether, the numerous reports on hantavirus reassortment, summarized in this review, clearly demonstrate that reassortment events play a significant role in hantavirus evolution and contributed to the currently recognized hantavirus diversity.

Phylogeographic diversity and hybrid zone of Hantaan orthohantavirus collected in Gangwon Province, Republic of Korea

“…Andes virus also has high level molecular diversity in the M segment, resulting in five diverged clades related to geographic origins in the South Americas [ 59 ]. These reports consistently showed that the possible exchanges of the M segment had lower genetic compatibility requirements and higher genetic tolerance than the L and S segments [ 49 , 60 , 61 ]. However, a homologous association between the L and M segments was observed in PUUV [ 62 ].…”

“…The results revealed a remarkable hybrid zone at two sites (Cheorwon-gun and Hwacheon-gun) in Gangwon Province and showed the spatial separation and sequence divergence across genome segments of HTNV ( Fig 3 ) . Although the impact of fitness differences between individuals in the local population cannot be ignored, one might expect the hybrid zone to move in favor of the fitter genotype [ 49 – 52 ]. The genotype frequency ( Ada a of 1) of the M segment in Cheorwon-gun indicated the M segment is completely compatible with the clade I.…”

Seroprevalence of arenavirus and hantavirus in indigenous populations from the Caribbean, Colombia

“…Therefore, we believe that the very low seroprevalence could indicate either that robovirus infections truly present with a very low frequency or that some sub-clinical cases are overlooked. Both options are feasible for both viral families as infections ranging from those caused by non-pathogenic viruses to undifferentiated infections are detected, depending on the specific agent involved 1,7 .…”

“…Hantavirsues transmitted by rodents are the most widely studied because they result in human disease. For example, hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is caused by viruses associated with Cricetidae rodents that circulate in the American continent 1 . Hantavirus circulation in Colombia was recently acknowledged through serological studies that detected hantavirus antibodies in humans and rodents from the Caribbean region [2][3][4][5][6] .…”

A Case Study of Two Rodent-Borne Viruses: Not Always the Same Old Suspects

“…The virus was isolated from the Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus)-an insectivore. More recently, identification of other hantaviruses from additional insectivore species and bats suggests a more complex and diverse characterization of this group (Klempa, 2018).…”