title: Genome of a novel circovirus of starlings, amplified by multiply primed rolling-circle amplification.
abstract: The genus Circovirus comprises small non-enveloped viruses with a circular single-stranded DNA genome. By using PCR with degenerate primers, a novel circovirus (starling circovirus, StCV) was detected in spleen samples of wild starlings (Sturnus vulgaris and Sturnus unicolor) found dead during an epidemic outbreak of septicaemic salmonellosis in northeastern Spain. Using a specific PCR, StCV was also detected in apparently healthy birds from the same population. The genome was amplified using multiply primed rolling-circle amplification and cloned. Open reading frames (ORFs) with similarities to the replication-associated protein and the capsid protein of circoviruses as well as an additional ORF encoding a protein of 106 aa were evident from the sequence. Phylogenetic analysis of circovirus genomes revealed the highest degree of similarity (67.1 %) between StCV and canary circovirus. A similar analysis of the evolutionarily conserved cytochrome b gene of the circovirus host species revealed a strict co-evolution of circoviruses with their hosts; however, the circoviruses showed about a threefold higher genetic divergence than their hosts.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Leipzig, An den Tierkliniken 29, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Reimar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Johne
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fernández-de-Luco
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Agropecuaria, El Deheson del Encinar, Oropesa, Spain.
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Höfle
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Leipzig, An den Tierkliniken 29, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Müller
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D018173:Circoviridae Infections / Q000821:virology; D017925:Circovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics; D016679:Genome, Viral; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013030:Spain; D013045:Species Specificity; D013154:Spleen / Q000821:virology; D046749:Starlings / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D036022:Capsid Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins; D045303:Cytochromes b