Extensive Genetic Diversity of Polyomaviruses in Sympatric Bat Communities: Host Switching versus Coevolution.

ABSTRACT: Polyomaviruses (PyVs) are small DNA viruses carried by diverse vertebrates. The evolutionary relationships of viruses and hosts remain largely unclear due to very limited surveillance in sympatric communities. In order to investigate whether PyVs can transmit among different mammalian species and to identify host-switching events in the field, we conducted a systematic study of a large collection of bats (n = 1,083) from 29 sympatric communities across China which contained multiple species with frequent contact. PyVs were detected in 21 bat communities, with 192 PyVs identified in 186 bats from 15 species within 6 families representing at least 28 newly described PyVs. Surveillance results and phylogenetic analyses surprisingly revealed three interfamily PyV host-switching events i

SUBMITTER: Tan Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7163151 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature