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. 2012 Aug 17;158(3-4):274-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2012.02.020. Epub 2012 Feb 17.

Initial sequence characterization of the rhabdoviruses of squamate reptiles, including a novel rhabdovirus from a caiman lizard (Dracaena guianensis)

James F X Wellehan Jr  1 , Allan P Pessier, Linda L Archer, April L Childress, Elliott R Jacobson, Robert B Tesh
Affiliations

Initial sequence characterization of the rhabdoviruses of squamate reptiles, including a novel rhabdovirus from a caiman lizard (Dracaena guianensis)

James F X Wellehan Jr et al. Vet Microbiol. .

Abstract

Rhabdoviruses infect a variety of hosts, including non-avian reptiles. Consensus PCR techniques were used to obtain partial RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene sequence from five rhabdoviruses of South American lizards; Marco, Chaco, Timbo, Sena Madureira, and a rhabdovirus from a caiman lizard (Dracaena guianensis). The caiman lizard rhabdovirus formed inclusions in erythrocytes, which may be a route for infecting hematophagous insects. This is the first information on behavior of a rhabdovirus in squamates. We also obtained sequence from two rhabdoviruses of Australian lizards, confirming previous Charleville virus sequence and finding that, unlike a previous sequence report but in agreement with serologic reports, Almpiwar virus is clearly distinct from Charleville virus. Bayesian and maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis revealed that most known rhabdoviruses of squamates cluster in the Almpiwar subgroup. The exception is Marco virus, which is found in the Hart Park group.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Erythrocytes of a caiman lizard (Dracaena guianensis) with intracytoplasmic rhabdoviral inclusions marked by arrows. The scale bar on the bottom right is 5 microns.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Electron micrograph of intracytoplasmic inclusions in caiman lizard erythrocytes, showing particles morphologically consistent with rhabdoviruses. Scale bar = 200 nm.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bayesian phylogenetic tree of predicted 106–145 amino acid sequences of RNA-dependent-RNA polymerase sequences based on MAFFT alignment. Multifurcations are marked with arcs. Bayesian posterior probabilities of clusters as percentages are in bold, and ML bootstrap values for clusters based on 350 re-samplings are given to the right. Nyamanini virus, a non-rhabdovirus member of the Mononegavirales used as an outgroup. Lettuce big-vein associated virus, a member of the unassigned non-Mononegavirales genus Varicosavirus, was included. The squamate rhabdoviruses sequenced in this study are indicated with arrows. Brackets demarcate viral clades. Accession numbers of sequences retrieved from GenBank are given after the name.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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