TY - JOUR
T1 - Identification of a novel polyomavirus in wild Sonoran Desert rodents of the family Heteromyidae
AU - Vargas, Karla L.
AU - Kraberger, Simona
AU - Custer, Joy M.
AU - Paietta, Elise N.
AU - Culver, Melanie
AU - Munguia-Vega, Adrian
AU - Dolby, Greer A.
AU - Varsani, Arvind
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank the Baja GeoGenomics Consortium (https://bajageogenomics.org/) for collecting rodent fecal samples for this study.
Funding Information:
K.L.V. was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) fellowship number 2109458. Field work was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant number 1925535/2305608, awarded to G.A.D., and NSF Grant number 1925771 to M.C. and A.M-V.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2023/10
Y1 - 2023/10
N2 - Rodents are the largest and most diverse group of mammals. Covering a wide range of structural and functional adaptations, rodents successfully occupy virtually every terrestrial habitat, and they are often found in close association with humans, domestic animals, and wildlife. Although a significant amount of research has focused on rodents’ prominence as known reservoirs of zoonotic viruses, there has been less emphasis on the viral ecology of rodents in general. Here, we utilized a viral metagenomics approach to investigate polyomaviruses in wild rodents from the Baja California peninsula, Mexico, using fecal samples. We identified a novel polyomavirus in fecal samples from two rodent species, a spiny pocket mouse (Chaetodipus spinatus) and a Dulzura kangaroo rat (Dipodomys simulans). These two polyomaviruses represent a new species in the genus Betapolyomavirus. Sequences of this polyomavirus cluster phylogenetically with those of other rodent polyomaviruses and two other non-rodent polyomaviruses (WU and KI) that have been identified in the human respiratory tract. Through our continued work on seven species of rodents, we endeavor to explore the viral diversity associated with wild rodents on the Baja California peninsula and expand on current knowledge of rodent viral ecology and evolution.
AB - Rodents are the largest and most diverse group of mammals. Covering a wide range of structural and functional adaptations, rodents successfully occupy virtually every terrestrial habitat, and they are often found in close association with humans, domestic animals, and wildlife. Although a significant amount of research has focused on rodents’ prominence as known reservoirs of zoonotic viruses, there has been less emphasis on the viral ecology of rodents in general. Here, we utilized a viral metagenomics approach to investigate polyomaviruses in wild rodents from the Baja California peninsula, Mexico, using fecal samples. We identified a novel polyomavirus in fecal samples from two rodent species, a spiny pocket mouse (Chaetodipus spinatus) and a Dulzura kangaroo rat (Dipodomys simulans). These two polyomaviruses represent a new species in the genus Betapolyomavirus. Sequences of this polyomavirus cluster phylogenetically with those of other rodent polyomaviruses and two other non-rodent polyomaviruses (WU and KI) that have been identified in the human respiratory tract. Through our continued work on seven species of rodents, we endeavor to explore the viral diversity associated with wild rodents on the Baja California peninsula and expand on current knowledge of rodent viral ecology and evolution.
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U2 - 10.1007/s00705-023-05877-5
DO - 10.1007/s00705-023-05877-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 37715108
AN - SCOPUS:85171386496
SN - 0304-8608
VL - 168
JO - Archives of virology
JF - Archives of virology
IS - 10
M1 - 253
ER -