title: Characterization of a novel polyomavirus isolated from a fibroma on the trunk of an African elephant (Loxodonta africana).
abstract: Viruses of the family Polyomaviridae infect a wide variety of avian and mammalian hosts with a broad spectrum of outcomes including asymptomatic infection, acute systemic disease, and tumor induction. In this study a novel polyomavirus, the African elephant polyomavirus 1 (AelPyV-1) found in a protruding hyperplastic fibrous lesion on the trunk of an African elephant (Loxodonta africana) was characterized. The AelPyV-1 genome is 5722 bp in size and is one of the largest polyomaviruses characterized to date. Analysis of the AelPyV-1 genome reveals five putative open-reading frames coding for the classic small and large T antigens in the early region, and the VP1, VP2 and VP3 capsid proteins in the late region. In the area preceding the VP2 start codon three putative open-reading frames, possibly coding for an agnoprotein, could be localized. A regulatory, non-coding region separates the 2 coding regions. Unique for polyomaviruses is the presence of a second 854 bp long non-coding region between the end of the early region and the end of the late region. Based on maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses of the large T antigen of the AelPyV-1 and 61 other polyomavirus sequences, AelPyV-1 clusters within a heterogeneous group of polyomaviruses that have been isolated from bats, new world primates and rodents.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: Mads Frost
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Bertelsen
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sijmons
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Van Ranst
authors.forename: Piet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000957:Antigens, Viral, Tumor / Q000235:genetics; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D004606:Elephants / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology*; D005350:Fibroma / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology*; D016679:Genome, Viral; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D010802:Phylogeny; D011120:Polyomavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D027601:Polyomavirus Infections / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology*; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D000957:Antigens, Viral, Tumor; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D004279:DNA, Viral