Spatial and Temporal Dynamics and Molecular Evolution of Tula orthohantavirus in German Vole Populations

Schmidt, Sabrina; Reil, Daniela; Jeske, Kathrin; Drewes, Stephan; Rosenfeld, Ulrike; Fischer, Stefan; Spierling, Nastasja G; Labutin, Anton; Heckel, Gerald; Jacob, Jens; Ulrich, Rainer G.; Imholt, Christian

doi:10.3390/v13061132

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Molecular screening for TULV infection was performed on the 238 adult voles of at least 20 g from 32 sampling sites among the 547 newly sampled individuals in the Porcelain and Bavaria transects. Voles of less than 20 g bodyweight were not assessed for TULV infection as young individuals are typically protected by maternal antibodies (Kallio et al, 2006 ; Schmidt et al, 2021 ). TULV infection was detected by amplifying a 540‐nucleotide fragment of the nucleocapsid gene on the small TULV genome segment (S‐segment) following the RT‐PCR (reverse transcriptase PCR) assay described in Essbauer et al ( 2006 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Voles of less than 20 g bodyweight were not assessed for TULV infection as young individuals are typically protected by maternal antibodies (Kallio et al, 2006;Schmidt et al, 2021). TULV infection was detected by amplifying a 540-nucleotide fragment of the nucleocapsid gene on the small TULV genome segment (S-segment) following the RT-PCR (reverse transcriptase PCR) assay described in Essbauer et al (2006).…”

Section: Tulv Screening and Clade Assignmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Direct competition for susceptible hosts among viruses from different clades could only occur in mixed populations or when viruses would be transferred across the clade contact by a dispersing vole host. TULV prevalence in local populations varies between 0% and 45%(Maas et al, 2017;Schmidt et al, 2016Schmidt et al, , 2021Schmidt-Chanasit et al, 2010), which would potentially provide enough noninfected local hosts for transmission across the clade contact. However, the rarity of host populations with both TULV clades and double-infected individuals (seeSaxenhofer et al, 2019) suggests only limited potential for direct within-host competition between clades to contribute to establishing the range limits.The GWAS and the spatial context show a strong association between particular SNPs in the host and clade-specific TULV infections.…”

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Host genetic factors associated with the range limit of a European hantavirus

et al. 2021

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The evolution of viruses and their respective hosts is usually linked by various dependencies. Patterns of co-evolution can range from highly antagonistic evolutionary arms-races (Daugherty & Malik, 2012) to commensal or even mutualistic relationships (Roossinck, 2011), which in turn impose varying degrees of selective constraints on both the virus and the host (Hall et al., 2011). In the case of infectious diseases, viruses are predominantly under selective pressure to develop and maintain infection pathways to their hosts, as well as coping with their host's immune response (Pybus & Rambaut, 2009).Viruses generally face a tradeoff in fitness between specializing to

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tulv Screening and Clade Assignmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Host genetic factors associated with the range limit of a European hantavirus

et al. 2021

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“…The infection of atypical host species with orthohantavirus is designated as a spill-over infection and is reported in high incidence areas in Europe [41]. Since we identified several infected rodents in the Tekeli area and the S segment sequences derived from D. nitedula and M. arvalis are almost identical, such a spill-over event is in the scope of possibilities [42][43][44]. Nevertheless, this result implies the need for a more extensive follow-up host-study for infected small mammals in the area of the Almaty region to obtain information on the actual distribution of orthohantaviruses in this area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Molecular Characterisation and Phylogeny of Tula Virus in Kazakhstan

Tukhanova

Shin

Turebekov

et al. 2022

Viruses

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Orthohantaviruses are zoonotic pathogens that play a significant role in public health. These viruses can cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Eurasia. In the Republic of Kazakhstan, the first human cases were registered in the year 2000 in the West Kazakhstan region. Small mammals can be reservoirs of orthohantaviruses. Previous studies showed orthohantavirus antigens in wild-living small mammals in four districts of West Kazakhstan. Clinical studies suggested that there might be further regions with human orthohantavirus infections in Kazakhstan, but genetic data of orthohantaviruses in natural foci are limited. The aim of this study was to investigate small mammals for the presence of orthohantaviruses by molecular biological methods and to provide a phylogenetic characterization of the circulating strains in Kazakhstan. Small mammals were trapped at 19 sites in West Kazakhstan, four in Almaty region and at seven sites around Almaty city during all seasons of 2018 and 2019. Lung tissues of small mammals were homogenized and RNA was extracted. Orthohantavirus RT-PCR assays were applied for detection of partial S and L segment sequences. Results were compared to published fragments. In total, 621 small mammals from 11 species were analysed. Among the collected small mammals, 2.4% tested positive for orthohantavirus RNA, one sample from West Kazakhstan and 14 samples from Almaty region. None of the rodents caught in Almaty city were infected. Sequencing parts of the small (S) and large (L) segments specified Tula virus (TULV) in these two regions. Our data show that geographical distribution of TULV is more extended as previously thought. The detected sequences were found to be split in two distinct genetic clusters of TULV in West Kazakhstan and Almaty region. TULV was detected in the common vole (Microtus arvalis) and for the first time in two individuals of the forest dormouse (Dryomys nitedula), interpreted as a spill-over infection in Kazakhstan.

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“…We screened 247 adult common voles from forty-two sampling sites for TULV infections. Screening was only performed for adult voles with a body weight of at least 20 g because infection rates of lighter animals are extremely low (<0.5 per cent; Schmidt et al. 2021 ; unpublished data) and juveniles of infected mothers are protected by maternal antibodies ( Kallio et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genome-wide support for incipient Tula hantavirus species within a single rodent host lineage

Labutin,

Heckel

2024

Virus Evolution

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Evolutionary divergence of viruses is most commonly driven by co-divergence with their hosts or through isolation of transmission after host-shifts. It remains mostly unknown, however, whether divergent phylogenetic clades within named virus species represent functionally equivalent byproducts of high evolutionary rates or rather incipient virus species. Here, we test these alternatives with genomic data from two widespread phylogenetic clades in Tula orthohantavirus (TULV) within a single evolutionary lineage of their natural rodent host, the common vole Microtus arvalis. We examined voles from 42 locations in the contact region between clades for TULV infection by RT-PCR. Sequencing yielded 23 TULV Central North and 21 TULV Central South genomes which differed by 14.9-18.5% at the nucleotide and 2.2-3.7% at the amino acid level without evidence of recombination or reassortment between clades. Geographic cline analyses demonstrated an abrupt (<1 km wide) transition between the parapatric TULV clades in continuous landscape. This transition was located within the Central mitochondrial lineage of M. arvalis and genomic SNPs showed gradual mixing of host populations across it. Genomic differentiation of hosts was much weaker across the TULV Central North to South transition than across the nearby hybrid zone between two evolutionary lineages in the host. We suggest that these parapatric TULV clades represent functionally distinct, incipient species which are likely differently affected by genetic polymorphisms in the host. This highlights the potential of natural viral contact zones as systems for investigating of the genetic and evolutionary factors enabling or restricting the transmission of RNA viruses.

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Spatial and Temporal Dynamics and Molecular Evolution of Tula orthohantavirus in German Vole Populations

Cited by 6 publications

References 65 publications

Host genetic factors associated with the range limit of a European hantavirus

Host genetic factors associated with the range limit of a European hantavirus

Molecular Characterisation and Phylogeny of Tula Virus in Kazakhstan

Genome-wide support for incipient Tula hantavirus species within a single rodent host lineage

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