Metagenomic identification of novel enteric viruses in urban wild rats and genome characterization of a group A rotavirus.

ABSTRACT: Rats are known as reservoirs and vectors for several zoonotic pathogens. However, information on the viruses shed by urban wild rats that could pose a zoonotic risk to human health is scare. Here, intestinal contents from 20 wild Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) collected in the city of Berlin, Germany, were subjected to metagenomic analysis of viral nucleic acids. The determined faecal viromes of rats consisted of a variety of known and unknown viruses, and were highly variable among the individuals. Members of the families Parvoviridae and Picobirnaviridae represented the most abundant species. Novel picornaviruses, bocaviruses, sapoviruses and stool-associated circular ssDNA viruses were identified, which showed only low sequence identity to known representatives of the corresponding tax

SUBMITTER: Sachsenroder J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4811644 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature