title: Non-Human Primates Harbor Diverse Mammalian and Avian Astroviruses Including Those Associated with Human Infections.
abstract: Astroviruses (AstVs) are positive sense, single-stranded RNA viruses transmitted to a wide range of hosts via the fecal-oral route. The number of AstV-infected animal hosts has rapidly expanded in recent years with many more likely to be discovered because of the advances in viral surveillance and next generation sequencing. Yet no study to date has identified human AstV genotypes in animals, although diverse AstV genotypes similar to animal-origin viruses have been found in children with diarrhea and in one instance of encephalitis. Here we provide important new evidence that non-human primates (NHP) can harbor a wide variety of mammalian and avian AstV genotypes, including those only associated with human infection. Serological analyses confirmed that >25% of the NHP tested had antibodies to human AstVs. Further, we identified a recombinant AstV with parental relationships to known human AstVs. Phylogenetic analysis suggests AstVs in NHP are on average evolutionarily much closer to AstVs from other animals than are AstVs from bats, a frequently proposed reservoir. Our studies not only demonstrate that human astroviruses can be detected in NHP but also suggest that NHP are unique in their ability to support diverse AstV genotypes, further challenging the paradigm that astrovirus infection is species-specific.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Disease, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America.
authors.forename: Erik A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.affiliation: Computational Biology Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
authors.forename: Christopher T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Small
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Disease, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Freiden
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Feeroz
authors.affiliation: Computational Biology Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
authors.forename: Frederick A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Matsen
authors.affiliation: National Veterinary Research Institute, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
authors.forename: Sorn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: San
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: M Kamrul
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Hasan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology & Immunology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, National Primate Research Center, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jones-Engel
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Disease, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America.
authors.forename: Stacey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schultz-Cherry
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019350:Astroviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000821:virology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000235:genetics; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008251:Macaca / Q000821:virology*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral