title: Desmodus rotundus and Artibeus spp. bats might present distinct rabies virus lineages.
abstract: In Brazil, bats have been assigned an increasing importance in public health as they are important rabies reservoirs. Phylogenetic studies have shown that rabies virus (RABV) strains from frugivorous bats Artibeus spp. are closely associated to those from the vampire bat Desmodus rotundus, but little is known about the molecular diversity of RABV in Artibeus spp. The N and G genes of RABV isolated from Artibeus spp. and cattle infected by D. rotundus were sequenced, and phylogenetic trees were constructed. The N gene nucleotides tree showed three clusters: one for D. rotundus and two for Artibeus spp. Regarding putative N amino acid-trees, two clusters were formed, one for D. rotundus and another for Artibeus spp. RABV G gene phylogeny supported the distinction between D. rotundus and Artibeus spp. strains. These results show the intricate host relationship of RABV's evolutionary history, and are invaluable for the determination of RABV infection sources.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Pasteur, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. wfahl@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Willian Oliveira
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Fahl
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carnieli
authors.forename: Juliana Galera
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Castilho
authors.forename: Maria Luiza
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Carrieri
authors.forename: Ivanete
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kotait
authors.forename: Keila
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iamamoto
authors.forename: Rafael Novaes
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Paulo Eduardo
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Brandão
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001938:Brazil; D002417:Cattle; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000145:classification / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral