title: Genetic similarity of Puumala viruses found in Finland and western Siberia and of the mitochondrial DNA of their rodent hosts suggests a common evolutionary origin.
abstract: A total of 678 small mammals representing eight species were trapped in western Siberia in 1999-2000 and assayed for the presence of hantaviruses. Eighteen animals, all Clethrionomys species, were antigen positive by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Small and medium genome segments were recovered by RT-PCR from six samples from Clethrionomys glareolus and three from Clethrionomys rufocanus. Sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis revealed that these hantaviruses were Puumala virus and were similar to hantavirus strains from Finland. To confirm these data, partial nucleotide sequences of the rodent hosts' cytochrome b genes were obtained, as well as several sequences from genes from rodents trapped at different localities of European Russia and western Siberia. The cytochrome b sequences of Siberian bank voles were similar to sequences of C. glareolus, trapped in Finland. These data suggest that the Puumala hantaviruses, as well as their rodent hosts, share a common evolutionary history. We propose that these rodents and viruses may be descendents of a population of bank voles that expanded northward from southern refugia during one of the interglacial periods.
authors.affiliation: Chumakov Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitides RAMS, Moscow, Russia. adekonenko@salud.unm.edu
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dekonenko
authors.forename: Valeriy
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Yakimenko
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ivanov
authors.forename: Vyacheslav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Morozov
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nikitin
authors.forename: Samara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khasanova
authors.forename: Tamara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dzagurova
authors.forename: Evgeniy
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tkachenko
authors.forename: Connie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schmaljohn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005387:Finland; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D011156:Population Density; D029262:Puumala virus / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D012377:Rodentia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000821:virology*; D012426:Russia; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D012800:Siberia
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D012367:RNA, Viral; D045303:Cytochromes b