Full-length genome sequence of a simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infecting a captive agile mangabey (Cercocebus agilis) is closely related to SIVrcm infecting wild red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus) in Cameroon

Abstract

Simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) are lentiviruses that infect an extensive number of wild African primate species. Here we describe for the first time SIV infection in a captive agile mangabey (Cercocebus agilis) from Cameroon. Phylogenetic analysis of the full-length genome sequence of SIVagi-00CM312 showed that this novel virus fell into the SIVrcm lineage and was most closely related to a newly characterized SIVrcm strain (SIVrcm-02CM8081) from a wild-caught red-capped mangabey (Cercocebus torquatus) from Cameroon. In contrast to red-capped mangabeys, no 24 bp deletion in CCR5 has been observed in the agile mangabey. Further studies on wild agile mangabeys are needed to determine whether agile and red-capped mangabeys are naturally infected with the same SIV lineage, or whether this agile mangabey became infected with an SIVrcm strain in captivity. However, our study shows that agile mangabeys are susceptible to SIV infection.

Fig. 1.

(a) Phylogenetic relationship of the newly derived SIVagi-00CM312 strain (in grey box) to previously described SIVrcm viruses (bold), the newly obtained SIVrcm virus (black box) and other SIV lineages in Gag, Pol and Env regions. The maximum-likelihood trees were inferred from protein sequence alignments. *, indicates values for the estimated posterior probabilities from the Bayesian method of ≥95 %. Bars, substitutions per site. (b) Diversity plots of concatenated protein sequences representing the extent of the genetic difference between SIVagi-00CM312 and other primate lentiviruses including the newly described SIVrcm-02CM8081 strain from Cameroon. The y-axis indicates the distance between the viral proteins.