@article{fdb378d4bf4540d99c33ffc54fa1a2e6,
title = "Identification of a polyomavirus in Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) from the Ross Sea (Antarctica)",
abstract = "Viruses are ubiquitous in nature, however, very few have been identified that are associated with Antarctic animals. Here we report the identification of a polyomavirus in the kidney tissue of a deceased Weddell seal from the Ross Sea, Antarctica. The circular genome (5186 nt) has typical features of polyomaviruses with a small and larger T-antigen open reading frames (ORFs) and three ORFs encoding VP1, VP2 and VP3 capsid proteins. The genome of the Weddell seal polyomavirus (WsPyV) shares 85.4% genome-wide pairwise identity with a polyomavirus identified in a California sea lion. To our knowledge WsPyV is the first viral genome identified in Antarctic pinnipeds and the third polyomavirus to be identified from an Antarctic animal, the other two being from Ad{\'e}lie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) and a sharp-spined notothen (Trematomus pennellii), both sampled in the Ross sea. The GenBank accession number: KX533457.",
author = "Arvind Varsani and Greg Frankfurter and Daisy Stainton and Male, {Maketalena F.} and Simona Kraberger and Burns, {Jennifer M.}",
note = "Funding Information: Tissue samples were collected under National Marine Fisheries Service Marine Mammal permit #17411, Antarctic Conservation Act permit #2014-003, and University of Alaska Anchorage{\textquoteright}s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approval #419971, with funding from the National Science Foundation grant ANT-1246463 to JMB. We thank Amy Kirkham, Michelle Shero, and Roxanne Beltran for assistance in the field, and Drs. Robert Garrott and Jay Rotella for demographic information about the animal from which samples were received. This project was made possible by logistical support from the National Science Foundation United States Antarctic Program, Lockheed Martin Antarctic Support Contract, and support staff in Christchurch, New Zealand and McMurdo Station. We would like to thank Padraig Duignan for reading over the pathology section of this manuscript. The molecular work described in this MS was supported by personal fund of AV. We thank Chris Buck at NIH for reviewing the WsPyV sequence annotation. Funding Information: There are no conflicts of interest. All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. Tissue samples were collected under National Marine Fisheries Service Marine Mammal permit #17411, Antarctic Conservation Act permit #2014-003, and University of Alaska Anchorage{\textquoteright}s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approval #419971, with funding from the National Science Foundation grant ANT-1246463 to JMB. The molecular work described in this MS was supported by personal fund of AV. The genomes sequence determined in this MS is deposited in GenBank. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017, Springer-Verlag Wien.",
year = "2017",
month = may,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1007/s00705-017-3239-y",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "162",
pages = "1403--1407",
journal = "Archives of virology",
issn = "0304-8608",
publisher = "Springer Wien",
number = "5",
}