title: Identification of a polyomavirus in Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) from the Ross Sea (Antarctica).
abstract: Viruses are ubiquitous in nature, however, very few have been identified that are associated with Antarctic animals. Here we report the identification of a polyomavirus in the kidney tissue of a deceased Weddell seal from the Ross Sea, Antarctica. The circular genome (5186 nt) has typical features of polyomaviruses with a small and larger T-antigen open reading frames (ORFs) and three ORFs encoding VP1, VP2 and VP3 capsid proteins. The genome of the Weddell seal polyomavirus (WsPyV) shares 85.4% genome-wide pairwise identity with a polyomavirus identified in a California sea lion. To our knowledge WsPyV is the first viral genome identified in Antarctic pinnipeds and the third polyomavirus to be identified from an Antarctic animal, the other two being from Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) and a sharp-spined notothen (Trematomus pennellii), both sampled in the Ross sea. The GenBank accession number: KX533457.
authors.affiliation: The Biodesign Center for Fundamental and Applied Microbiomics, Center for Evolution and Medicine, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-5001, USA. arvind.varsani@asu.edu.|School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand. arvind.varsani@asu.edu.|Structural Biology Research Unit, Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, 7001, South Africa. arvind.varsani@asu.edu.
authors.forename: Arvind
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4111-2415
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varsani
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Health Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Frankfurter
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand.|School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Daisy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stainton
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Maketalena F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Male
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand.|Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kraberger
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alaska Anchorage, 3211 Providence Drive, Anchorage, AK, 99508, USA. jmburns@uaa.alaska.edu.
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Burns
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D000957:Antigens, Viral, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D016679:Genome, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D007668:Kidney / Q000821:virology; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D011120:Polyomavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D046048:Seals, Earless / Q000821:virology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D000957:Antigens, Viral, Tumor; D036022:Capsid Proteins