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.
