Identification of a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-like virus in a leaf-nosed bat in Nigeria.
Bats are reservoirs for emerging zoonotic viruses that can have a profound impact on human and animal health, including lyssaviruses, filoviruses, paramyxoviruses, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses (SARS-CoVs). In the course of a project focused on pathogen discovery in contexts where human-bat contact might facilitate more efficient interspecies transmission of viruses, we surveyed gastrointestinal tissue obtained from bats collected in caves in Nigeria that are frequented by humans. Coronavirus consensus PCR and unbiased high-throughput pyrosequencing revealed the presence of coronavirus sequences related to those of SARS-CoV in a Commerson's leaf-nosed bat (Hipposideros commersoni). Additional genomic sequencing indicated that this virus, unlike subgroup 2b CoVs, which includes SARS-CoV, is unique, comprising three overlapping open reading frames between the M and N genes and two conserved stem-loop II motifs. Phylogenetic analyses in conjunction with these features suggest that this virus represents a new subgroup within group 2 CoVs.
Center for Infection and Immunity, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA. pq2106@columbia.edu
Phenix-Lan
PL
Quan
Cadhla
C
Firth
Craig
C
Street
Jose A
JA
Henriquez
Alexandra
A
Petrosov
Alla
A
Tashmukhamedova
Stephen K
SK
Hutchison
Michael
M
Egholm
Modupe O V
MO
Osinubi
Michael
M
Niezgoda
Albert B
AB
Ogunkoya
Thomas
T
Briese
Charles E
CE
Rupprecht
W Ian
WI
Lipkin
D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009549:Nigeria; D010802:Phylogeny; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*