Principal host relationships and evolutionary history of the North American arenaviruses.
A previous study suggested that the genomes of the arenaviruses native to North America are a product of genetic recombination between New World arenaviruses with significantly different phylogenetic histories. The purpose of this study was to extend our knowledge of the principal host relationships and evolutionary history of the North American arenaviruses. The results of this study suggest that the large-eared woodrat (Neotoma macrotis) is a principal host of Bear Canyon virus and that the present-day association of Bear Canyon virus with the California mouse (Peromyscus californicus) in southern California represents a successful host-jumping event from the large-eared woodrat to the California mouse. Together, the results of analyses of viral gene sequence data in this study and our knowledge of the phylogeography of the rodents that serve as principal hosts of the New World arenaviruses suggest that genetic recombination between arenaviruses with significantly different phylogenetic histories did not play a role in the evolution of the North American arenaviruses.
Cajimat
Maria N B
MN
University of Texas Medical Branch, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Microbiology and Immunology Graduate Program, Galveston, TX 77555-1019, USA. ncajimat@umich.edu
Milazzo
Mary Louise
ML
Hess
Barry D
BD
Rood
Michael P
MP
Fulhorst
Charles F
CF
D000818:Animals; D018050:Arenavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D004279:DNA, Viral; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016679:Genome, Viral; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009656:North America; D010542:Peromyscus / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000235:genetics; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D012377:Rodentia; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
D004279:DNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase