title: Phylogenetic analysis of a newfound bat-borne hantavirus supports a laurasiatherian host association for ancestral mammalian hantaviruses.
abstract: Until recently, hantaviruses (family Bunyaviridae) were believed to originate from rodent reservoirs. However, genetically distinct hantaviruses were lately found in shrews and moles, as well as in bats from Africa and Asia. Bats (order Chiroptera) are considered important reservoir hosts for emerging human pathogens. Here, we report on the identification of a novel hantavirus, provisionally named Makokou virus (MAKV), in Noack's Roundleaf Bat (Hipposideros ruber) in Gabon, Central Africa. Phylogenetic analysis of the genomic l-segment showed that MAKV was the most closely related to other bat-borne hantaviruses and shared a most recent common ancestor with the Asian hantaviruses Xuan Son and Laibin. Breakdown of the virus load in a bat animal showed that MAKV resembles rodent-borne hantaviruses in its organ distribution in that it predominantly occurred in the spleen and kidney; this provides a first insight into the infection pattern of bat-borne hantaviruses. Ancestral state reconstruction based on a tree of l gene sequences of all relevant hantavirus lineages was combined with phylogenetic fossil host hypothesis testing, leading to a statistically significant rejection of the mammalian superorder Euarchontoglires (including rodents) but not the superorder Laurasiatheria (including shrews, moles, and bats) as potential hosts of ancestral hantaviruses at most basal tree nodes. Our data supports the emerging concept of bats as previously overlooked hantavirus reservoir hosts.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, Helmut-Ruska-Haus, Charité Medical School, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: Peter.Witkowski@charite.de.
authors.forename: Peter T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Witkowski
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Center, Bonn, Germany; German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Bonn-, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Drexler
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Center, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kallies
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ličková
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bokorová
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville, Franceville, Gabon.
authors.forename: Gael D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Maganga
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Tomáš
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Szemes
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville, Franceville, Gabon; Laboratoire MIVEGEC UMR 224-5290 CNRS-IRD-UM1-UM2, IRD, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Eric M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Leroy
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, Helmut-Ruska-Haus, Charité Medical School, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Detlev H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Krüger
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Center, Bonn, Germany; German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Bonn-, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Drosten
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, Helmut-Ruska-Haus, Charité Medical School, Berlin, Germany; Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Klempa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D059552:Caves; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D005681:Gabon / Q000453:epidemiology; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018778:Hantavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D007668:Kidney / Q000821:virology; D008322:Mammals; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013154:Spleen / Q000821:virology; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: Africa; Bat; Hantavirus; Laurasiatheria; Makokou virus; Zoonosis