title: Partial molecular characterization of alphaherpesviruses isolated from tropical bats.
abstract: Herpesviruses have previously been isolated from African and South-American bats. Recently, herpesviruses detected from European insectivorous bats (family Vespertilionidae) were classified molecularly as betaherpesviruses and gammaherpesviruses. In the current study, we performed PCR analyses targeting the UL30 catalytic subunit region of the DNA polymerase gene of the African and South American herpesviruses and new Malagasy and Cambodian herpesviruses isolated from bats, especially frugivorous bats from the families Pteropodidae and Phyllostomidae. The sequences obtained from the amplified products indicated that these isolates belonged to the genus Simplexvirus of the subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae. These results extend the taxonomic range of bat herpesviruses with the description of four members in the subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae. Furthermore, these data confirm and extend the geographical distribution of herpesvirus in bats to three more continents (Africa, South America and Asia) and indicate the presence of these viruses in frugivorous bats of the families Pteropodidae and Phyllostomidae.
authors.affiliation: Unité de virologie, Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, route de l'Institut Pasteur, BP 1274, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar.
authors.forename: Richter
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Razafindratsimandresy
authors.forename: Elisabeth M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Jeanmaire
authors.forename: Dorian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Counor
authors.forename: Pedro Fernando
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Vasconcelos
authors.forename: Amadou Alpha
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Sall
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Reynes
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D018138:Alphaherpesvirinae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000818:Animals; D002160:Cambodia; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D008270:Madagascar; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013020:South America
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral