Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Four novel Picornaviruses detected in Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) in Chile

Juliette Hayer, Michelle Wille, Alejandro Font, Marcelo González-Aravena, Helene Norder, Maja Malmberg
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.26.356485
Juliette Hayer
1Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: juliette.hayer@slu.se maja.malmberg@slu.se
Michelle Wille
2Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Alejandro Font
3Instituto Antártico Chileno, Plaza Muñoz Gamero 1055, Punta Arenas, Chile
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Marcelo González-Aravena
3Instituto Antártico Chileno, Plaza Muñoz Gamero 1055, Punta Arenas, Chile
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Helene Norder
4Department of Infectious Diseases/Virology, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
5Region Västra Götaland, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Department of Clinical Microbiology, Gothenburg, Sweden
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Maja Malmberg
1Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
6Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: juliette.hayer@slu.se maja.malmberg@slu.se
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Members of the Picornaviridae comprise a significant burden on the poultry industry, causing diseases such as gastroenteritis and hepatitis. However, with the advent of metagenomics, a number of picornaviruses have now been revealed in apparently healthy wild birds. In this study, we identified four novel viruses belonging to the family Picornaviridae in healthy Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus), a near threatened species found along the coastlines of temperate South America. We collected 107 faecal samples from 72 individual penguins. Twelve samples were initially sequenced by high throughout sequencing with metagenomics approach. All samples were subsequently screened by PCR for these new viruses, and approximately 20% of the penguins were infected with at least one of these viruses, and seven individuals were co-infected with two or more. The viruses were distantly related to members of the genera Hepatoviruses, Tremoviruses and unassigned viruses from Antarctic Penguins and Red-Crowned Cranes. Further, they had more than 60% amino acid divergence from other picornaviruses, and therefore likely constitute novel genera. That these four novel viruses were abundant among the sampled penguins, suggests Magellanic Penguins may be a reservoir for several picornaviruses belonging to different genera. Our results demonstrate the vast undersampling of wild birds for viruses, and we expect the discovery of numerous avian viruses that are related to Hepatoviruses and Tremoviruses in the future.

Importance Recent work has demonstrated that Antarctic penguins of the genus Pygoscelis are hosts for an array of viral species. However, beyond these Antarctic penguin species, very little is known about the viral diversity or ecology in this highly charismatic avian order. Through metagenomics we identified four novel viruses belonging to the Picornaviridae family in faecal samples from Magellanic Penguins. These highly divergent viruses, each possibly representing novel genera, are related to members of the Hepatovirus, Tremovirus genera, and unassigned picornaviruses described from Antarctic Penguin and Red-crowned Cranes. By PCR these novel viruses were shown to be common in Magellanic Penguins, indicating that penguins may play a key role in their epidemiology and evolution. Overall, we encourage further sampling to reveal virus diversity, ecology, and evolution in these unique avian taxa.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted October 28, 2020.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Four novel Picornaviruses detected in Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) in Chile
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Four novel Picornaviruses detected in Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) in Chile
Juliette Hayer, Michelle Wille, Alejandro Font, Marcelo González-Aravena, Helene Norder, Maja Malmberg
bioRxiv 2020.10.26.356485; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.26.356485
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Four novel Picornaviruses detected in Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) in Chile
Juliette Hayer, Michelle Wille, Alejandro Font, Marcelo González-Aravena, Helene Norder, Maja Malmberg
bioRxiv 2020.10.26.356485; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.26.356485

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Ecology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3505)
  • Biochemistry (7346)
  • Bioengineering (5323)
  • Bioinformatics (20260)
  • Biophysics (10016)
  • Cancer Biology (7743)
  • Cell Biology (11300)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6437)
  • Ecology (9951)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13321)
  • Genetics (9361)
  • Genomics (12583)
  • Immunology (7701)
  • Microbiology (19021)
  • Molecular Biology (7441)
  • Neuroscience (41036)
  • Paleontology (300)
  • Pathology (1229)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2137)
  • Physiology (3160)
  • Plant Biology (6860)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1272)
  • Synthetic Biology (1896)
  • Systems Biology (5311)
  • Zoology (1089)