Identification of novel mammalian viruses in tree shrews (<i>Tupaia belangeri chinensis</i>)
Hong Zhou, 山东第一医科大学(山东省医学科学院)临床与基础医学院, 山东 济南 250117, 中国, Ren‐Rong Tian, Xiurong Wang, Jinxuan Yang, Yunxiao Wang, Mingliang Zhao, Xudong Zhang, Yuhua Ma, Longbao Lv, Edward C. Holmes, Yong‐Tang Zheng, Weifeng Shi, 山东第一医科大学(山东省医学科学院)山东省高校新发传染病重点实验室, 山东 泰安271000, 中国, 中国科学院动物模型与人类疾病重点实验室/云南省生物活性肽重点实验室, 中国科学院昆明动物研究所—香港中文大学生物资源与疾病分子机理联合实验室, 中国科学院昆明动物研究所生物安全大科学中心, 云南 昆明 650223, 中国, 山东第一医科大学(山东省医学科学院)公共卫生与健康管理学院, 山东 济南 250117, 中国, 中国科学院昆明动物研究所国家非人灵长类实验动物资源库/昆明灵长类研究中心, 云南 昆明 650107, 中国, 上海交通大学医学院附属瑞金医院感染科, 上海 200025, 中国, 上海交通大学医学院上海市病毒研究院, 上海 200025, 中国
Abstract
The Chinese tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri chinensis) is from a mammalian order (Scandentia) related to primates. Its nervous, immune, and metabolic systems are similar to those of primates, including humans, making it widely used as a promising experimental model in biomedical research, such as cancer, infectious, metabolic, and mental diseases models. Herein, we used meta-transcriptomic sequencing to analyze plasma, oral and anal swab samples from 105 apparently healthy tree shrew individuals to identify potential zoonotic viruses. Eight mammalian viruses with complete genomes were identified, belonging to six viral families: Flaviviridae, Hepeviridae, Parvovirinae, Picornaviridae, Sedoreoviridae, and Spinareoviridae. We reported, for the first time, a rotavirus in tree shrews. Of particular note were three viruses – hepacivirus1, parvovirus, and picornavirus – that exhibited low genetic similarity (<70%) with previously reported viruses at the scale of whole genome and so were novel. Three other viruses – hepacivirus 2, hepatovirus A and hepevirus – exhibited high similarity (>94%) to known viruses. Phylogenetic analyses also revealed that the rotavirus and mammalian orthoreovirus identified in this study might be novel reassortants. These findings provided insights into the wide virus spectrum in captive Chinese tree shrews. The potential for the cross-species transmission of these viruses from tree shrews to other animals clearly warrants further investigation.