TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing host-virus codivergence for close relatives of Merkel cell polyomavirus infecting African great apes
AU - Madinda, Nadège F.
AU - Ehlers, Bernhard
AU - Wertheim, Joel O.
AU - Akoua-Koffi, Chantal
AU - Bergl, Richard A.
AU - Boesch, Christophe
AU - Akonkwa, Dieudonné Boji Mungu
AU - Eckardt, Winnie
AU - Fruth, Barbara
AU - Gillespie, Thomas R.
AU - Gray, Maryke
AU - Hohmann, Gottfried
AU - Karhemere, Stomy
AU - Kujirakwinja, Deo
AU - Langergraber, Kevin
AU - Muyembe, Jean Jacques
AU - Nishuli, Radar
AU - Pauly, Maude
AU - Petrzelkova, Klara J.
AU - Robbins, Martha M.
AU - Todd, Angelique
AU - Schubert, Grit
AU - Stoinski, Tara S.
AU - Wittig, Roman M.
AU - Zuberbühler, Klaus
AU - Peeters, Martine
AU - Leendertz, Fabian H.
AU - Calvignac-Spencer, Sébastien
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - It has long been hypothesized that polyomaviruses (PyV; family Polyomaviridae) codiverged with their animal hosts. In contrast, recent analyses suggested that codivergence may only marginally influence the evolution of PyV. We reassess this question by focusing on a single lineage of PyV infecting hominine hosts, the Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) lineage. By characterizing the genetic diversity of these viruses in seven African great ape taxa, we show that they exhibit very strong host specificity. Reconciliation analyses identify more codivergence than noncodivergence events. In addition, we find that a number of host and PyV divergence events are synchronous. Collectively, our results support codivergence as the dominant process at play during the evolution of the MCPyV lineage. More generally, our results add to the growing body of evidence suggesting an ancient and stable association of PyV and their animal hosts.
AB - It has long been hypothesized that polyomaviruses (PyV; family Polyomaviridae) codiverged with their animal hosts. In contrast, recent analyses suggested that codivergence may only marginally influence the evolution of PyV. We reassess this question by focusing on a single lineage of PyV infecting hominine hosts, the Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) lineage. By characterizing the genetic diversity of these viruses in seven African great ape taxa, we show that they exhibit very strong host specificity. Reconciliation analyses identify more codivergence than noncodivergence events. In addition, we find that a number of host and PyV divergence events are synchronous. Collectively, our results support codivergence as the dominant process at play during the evolution of the MCPyV lineage. More generally, our results add to the growing body of evidence suggesting an ancient and stable association of PyV and their animal hosts.
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U2 - 10.1128/JVI.00247-16
DO - 10.1128/JVI.00247-16
M3 - Article
C2 - 27440885
AN - SCOPUS:84990198224
SN - 0022-538X
VL - 90
SP - 8531
EP - 8541
JO - Journal of virology
JF - Journal of virology
IS - 19
ER -