Shared Ancestry between a Newfound Mole-Borne Hantavirus and Hantaviruses Harbored by Cricetid Rodents

Abstract

Discovery of genetically distinct hantaviruses in multiple species of shrews (order Soricomorpha, family Soricidae) and moles (family Talpidae) contests the conventional view that rodents (order Rodentia, families Muridae and Cricetidae) are the principal reservoir hosts and suggests that the evolutionary history of hantaviruses is far more complex than previously hypothesized. We now report on Rockport virus (RKPV), a hantavirus identified in archival tissues of the eastern mole (Scalopus aquaticus) collected in Rockport, TX, in 1986. Pairwise comparison of the full-length S, M, and L genomic segments indicated moderately low sequence similarity between RKPV and other soricomorph-borne hantaviruses. Phylogenetic analyses, using maximumlikelihood and Bayesian methods, showed that RKPV shared a most recent common ancestor with cricetidrodent-borne hantaviruses. Distributed widely across the eastern United States, the fossorial eastern mole is sympatric and syntopic with cricetid rodents known to harbor hantaviruses, raising the possibility of hostswitching events in the distant past. Our findings warrant more-detailed investigations on the dynamics of spillover and cross-species transmission of present-day hantaviruses within communities of rodents and moles.

Diversity and Distribution of Hantaviruses in South America

“…4). Although cross-species transmission events between closely (and distantly) related hosts have been widely reported in hantaviruses, host switching as a primary driving mechanism of hantavirus diversity and distribution is often overlooked in favor of codivergence between virus and host (4,29,30,60,69). Nonetheless, both host geographic distribution and phylogenetic relatedness is known to influence the host-switching potential of many RNA and DNA viruses, even if their relative importance in shaping these dynamics remains uncertain (20,41,81).…”

“…It is now clear that cross-species transmission between hosts has occurred multiple times throughout the history of hantaviruses, in both the Old and New Worlds (9,11,30,34,52,56,60,65). Unique hantaviruses may infect multiple host species, individual hosts may carry multiple viruses, and host-switching events can occur between both closely (congeneric) and distantly (between orders Rodentia and Soricomorpha) related mammals.…”

Sangassou Virus, the First Hantavirus Isolate from Africa, Displays Genetic and Functional Properties Distinct from Those of Other Murinae-Associated Hantaviruses

“…The Soricomorpha-associated viruses seem to form at least two main additional clusters but without a clear association with the phylogeny of their hosts (2,14). Surprisingly, the most recently found mole-associated Rockport virus was shown to share a most recent common ancestor with Arvicolinae-and Sigmodontinae-associated hantaviruses (13).…”

Hantaviruses Induce Antiviral and Pro-Inflammatory Innate Immune Responses in Astrocytic Cells and the Brain

“…The discovery of HTNV also made possible the identification of hantaviruses such as Sin Nombre virus (SNV), Black Creek Canal virus (BCCV), and Andes virus (ANDV), harbored by sigmodontine and neotomine rodent species, which cause hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) in the Americas (39,43,51). Recently, the reservoir host range has been expanded with the discovery of highly divergent lineages of hantaviruses in shrews (2,3,5,28,30,(52)(53)(54), moles (4,(27)(28)(29) and bats (57,58), but their pathogenic potential in humans is not known.…”