title: Pigeon circoviruses display patterns of recombination, genomic secondary structure and selection similar to those of beak and feather disease viruses.
abstract: Pigeon circovirus (PiCV) has a ~2 kb genome circular ssDNA genome. All but one of the known PiCV isolates have been found infecting pigeons in various parts of the world. In this study, we screened 324 swab and tissue samples from Polish pigeons and recovered 30 complete genomes, 16 of which came from birds displaying no obvious pathology. Together with 17 other publicly available PiCV complete genomes sampled throughout the Northern Hemisphere and Australia, we find that PiCV displays a similar degree of genetic diversity to that of the related psittacine-infecting circovirus species, beak and feather disease virus (BFDV). We show that, as is the case with its pathology and epidemiology, PiCV also displays patterns of recombination, genomic secondary structure and natural selection that are generally very similar to those of BFDV. It is likely that breeding facilities play a significant role in the emergence of new recombinant PiCV variants and given that ~50 % of the domestic pigeon population is infected subclinically, all pigeon breeding stocks should be screened routinely for this virus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Avian Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury, ul. Oczapowskiego 13, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stenzel
authors.affiliation: Department of Epizootiology with Clinic of Birds and Exotic Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-360 Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Piasecki
authors.affiliation: Department of Epizootiology with Clinic of Birds and Exotic Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-360 Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Klaudia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chrząstek
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Laurel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Julian
authors.affiliation: Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, Computational Biology Group, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Brejnev M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Muhire
authors.affiliation: Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, Computational Biology Group, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Golden
authors.affiliation: Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, Computational Biology Group, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Darren P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology and Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.|Electron Microscope Unit, Division of Medical Biochemistry, Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University of Cape Town, Observatory 7700, South Africa.|School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.|Biomolecular Interaction Centre, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Arvind
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varsani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017925:Circovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010856:Columbidae / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016679:Genome, Viral; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010802:Phylogeny; D011044:Poland; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral