Novel cytomegaloviruses in free-ranging and captive great apes: phylogenetic evidence for bidirectional horizontal transmission.
Wild great apes often suffer from diseases of unknown aetiology. This is among the causes of population declines. Because human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is an important pathogen, especially in immunocompromised individuals, a search for cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) in deceased wild and captive chimpanzees, gorillas and orang-utans was performed. By using a degenerate PCR targeting four conserved genes (UL54-UL57), several distinct, previously unrecognized CMVs were found for each species. Sequences of up to 9 kb were determined for ten novel CMVs, located in the UL54-UL57 block. A phylogenetic tree was inferred for the ten novel CMVs, the previously characterized chimpanzee CMV, HCMV strains and Old World and New World monkey CMVs. The primate CMVs fell into four clades, containing New World monkey, Old World monkey, orang-utan and human CMVs, respectively, plus two clades that each contained both chimpanzee and gorilla isolates (termed CG1 and CG2). The tree loci of the first four clades mirrored those for their respective hosts in the primate tree, suggesting that these CMV lineages arose through cospeciation with host lineages. The CG1 and CG2 loci corresponded to those of the gorilla and chimpanzee hosts, respectively. This was interpreted as indicating that CG1 and CG2 represented CMV lineages that had arisen cospeciationally with the gorilla and chimpanzee lineages, respectively, with subsequent transfer within each clade between the host genera. Divergence dates were estimated and found to be consistent with overall cospeciational development of major primate CMV lineages. However, CMV transmission between chimpanzees and gorillas in both directions has also occurred.
Leendertz
Fabian H
FH
Research Group Emerging Zoonoses, Robert Koch-Institut, D-13353 Berlin, Germany.
Deckers
Merlin
M
Research Group Molecular Genetics and Epidemiology of Herpesviruses, Robert Koch-Institut, D-13353 Berlin, Germany.
Schempp
Werner
W
Institute for Human Genetics and Anthropology, University of Freiburg, D-79106 Freiburg, Germany.
Lankester
Felix
F
Limbe Wildlife Centre, PO Box 878, Limbe, Cameroon.
Boesch
Christophe
C
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Primatology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Mugisha
Lawrence
L
Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT), PO Box 884, Entebbe, Uganda.
Dolan
Aidan
A
Medical Research Council Virology Unit, Institute of Virology, University of Glasgow, Church Street, Glasgow G11 5JR, UK.
Gatherer
Derek
D
Medical Research Council Virology Unit, Institute of Virology, University of Glasgow, Church Street, Glasgow G11 5JR, UK.
McGeoch
Duncan J
DJ
Medical Research Council Virology Unit, Institute of Virology, University of Glasgow, Church Street, Glasgow G11 5JR, UK.
Ehlers
Bernhard
B
Research Group Molecular Genetics and Epidemiology of Herpesviruses, Robert Koch-Institut, D-13353 Berlin, Germany.
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo; D018420:Ape Diseases / Q000821:virology; D001483:Base Sequence; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral / Q000502:physiology; D006071:Gorilla gorilla / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000821:virology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011148:Pongo pygmaeus / Q000821:virology*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
D014764:Viral Proteins