title: Distribution of TT virus (TTV), TTV-like minivirus, and related viruses in humans and nonhuman primates.
abstract: TT virus (TTV) and TTV-like minivirus (TLMV) are small DNA viruses with single-stranded, closed circular, antisense genomes infecting man. Despite their extreme sequence heterogeneity (>50%), a highly conserved region in the untranslated region (UTR) allows both viruses to be amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). TTV/TLMV infection was detected in 88 of 100 human plasma samples; amplified sequences were differentiated into TTV and TLMV by analysis of melting profiles, showing that both viruses were similarly prevalent. PCR with UTR primers also detected frequent infection with TTV/TLMV-related viruses in a wide range of apes (chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, gibbons) and African monkey species (mangabeys, drills, mandrills). These findings support the hypothesis for the co-evolution of TTV-like viruses with their hosts over the period of primate speciation, potentially analogous to the evolution of primate herpesviruses.
authors.affiliation: TTI Theme Group, Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, EH8 9AG Scotland, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thom
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Morrison
authors.forename: J C M
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Simmonds
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004267:DNA Viruses / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D008322:Mammals / Q000821:virology; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011323:Primates / Q000821:virology*; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D022783:Torque teno virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D020506:Untranslated Regions
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D020506:Untranslated Regions