Diverse replication-associated protein encoding circular DNA viruses in guano samples of Central-Eastern European bats

• DOI: 10.1007/s00705-017-3678-5
• Publication Date: 2017-12-15T10:57:55Z
• Authors: Gábor Kemenesi; Kornélia Kurucz; Brigitta Zana; Fanni Földes; Péter Urbán; Anton Vlaschenko; Kseniia Kravchenko; Ivana Budinski; Farkas Szodoray-P...; Szilárd Bücs; Csaba Jére; István Csősz; Abigél Szodoray-P...; Péter Estók; Tamás Görföl; Sándor Boldogh; Ferenc Jakab
• Keywords: 570; bats; DNA, Single-Stranded; bat; Genome, Viral; Virus Replication; Georgia (Republic); 630; Feces; 03 medical and health sciences; Chiroptera; Animals; Humans; Animalia; Amino Acid Sequence; Europe, Eastern; Chordata; Phylogeny; Circoviridae; 0303 health sciences; DNA Viruses; Biodiversity; DNA Virus Infections; 3. Good health; DNA, Viral; Mammalia

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Circular replication-associated protein encoding single-stranded DNA (CRESS DNA) viruses are increasingly recognized worldwide in a variety of samples. Representative members include well-described veterinary pathogens with worldwide distribution, such as porcine circoviruses or beak and feather disease virus. In addition, numerous novel viruses belonging to the family Circoviridae with unverified pathogenic roles have been discovered in different human samples. Viruses of the family Genomoviridae have also been described as being highly abundant in different faecal and environmental samples, with case reportsshowing them to be suspected pathogens in human infections. In order to investigate the genetic diversity of these viruses in European bat populations, we tested guano samples from Georgia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. This resulted in the detection of six novel members of the family Circoviridae and two novel members of the family Genomoviridae. Interestingly, a gemini-like virus, namely niminivirus, which was originally found in raw sewage samples in Nigeria, was also detected in our samples. We analyzed the nucleotide composition of members of the family Circoviridae to determine the possible host origins of these viruses. This study provides the first dataset on CRESS DNA viruses of European bats, and members of several novel viral species were discovered.