Discovery and Genomic Characterization of a Novel Hepadnavirus from Asymptomatic Anadromous Alewife (<i>Alosa pseudoharengus</i>).

ABSTRACT: The alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) is an anadromous herring that inhabits waters of northeastern North America. This prey species is a critical forage for piscivorous birds, mammals, and fishes in estuarine and oceanic ecosystems. During a discovery project tailored to identify potentially emerging pathogens of this species, we obtained the full genome of a novel hepadnavirus (ApHBV) from clinically normal alewives collected from the Maurice River, Great Egg Harbor River, and Delaware River in New Jersey, USA during 2015-2018. This previously undescribed hepadnavirus contained a circular DNA genome of 3146 nucleotides. Phylogenetic analysis of the polymerase protein placed this virus in the clade of metahepadnaviruses (family: Hepadnaviridae; genus: Metahepadnavirus).

SUBMITTER: Raines C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11209213 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature