title: Identification of an avian polyomavirus associated with Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae).
abstract: Little is known about viruses associated with Antarctic animals, although they are probably widespread. We recovered a novel polyomavirus from Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) faecal matter sampled in a subcolony at Cape Royds, Ross Island, Antarctica. The 4988 nt Adélie penguin polyomavirus (AdPyV) has a typical polyomavirus genome organization with three ORFs that encoded capsid proteins on the one strand and two non-structural protein-coding ORFs on the complementary strand. The genome of AdPyV shared ~60 % pairwise identity with all avipolyomaviruses. Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic analysis of the large T-antigen (T-Ag) amino acid sequences showed that the T-Ag of AdPyV clustered with those of avipolyomaviruses, sharing between 48 and 52 % identities. Only three viruses associated with Adélie penguins have been identified at a genomic level, avian influenza virus subtype H11N2 from the Antarctic Peninsula and, respectively, Pygoscelis adeliae papillomavirus and AdPyV from capes Crozier and Royds on Ross Island.
authors.affiliation: Electron Microscope Unit, Division of Medical Biochemistry, Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University of Cape Town, Observatory, 7700, South Africa.|Department of Plant Pathology and Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.|School of Biological Sciences and Biomolecular Interaction Centre, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Arvind
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varsani
authors.affiliation: Point Blue Conservation Science, Petaluma, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Porzig
authors.affiliation: Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, US Geological Survey, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jennings
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences and Biomolecular Interaction Centre, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kraberger
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences and Biomolecular Interaction Centre, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Kata
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Farkas
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences and Biomolecular Interaction Centre, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Laurel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Julian
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Massaro
authors.affiliation: Point Blue Conservation Science, Petaluma, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Grant
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ballard
authors.affiliation: HT Harvey and Associates, Los Gatos, CA, USA.
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Ainley
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D000957:Antigens, Viral, Tumor / Q000235:genetics; D016679:Genome, Viral; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000235:genetics; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000821:virology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010802:Phylogeny; D011120:Polyomavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D046429:Spheniscidae / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D000957:Antigens, Viral, Tumor