Kolente virus, a rhabdovirus species isolated from ticks and bats in the Republic of Guinea

Abstract

Kolente virus (KOLEV) is a rhabdovirus originally isolated from ticks and a bat in Guinea, West Africa, in 1985. Although tests at the time of isolation suggested that KOLEV is a novel rhabdovirus, it has remained largely uncharacterized. We assembled the complete genome sequence of the prototype strain DakAr K7292, which was found to encode the five canonical rhabdovirus structural proteins (N, P, M, G and L) with alternative ORFs (>180 nt) in the P and L genes. Serologically, KOLEV exhibited a weak antigenic relationship with Barur and Fukuoka viruses in the Kern Canyon group. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that KOLEV represents a distinct and divergent lineage that shows no clear relationship to any rhabdovirus except Oita virus, although with limited phylogenetic resolution. In summary, KOLEV represents a novel species in the family Rhabdoviridae.

Fig. 1.

Ultrastructure of KOLEV in BHK-21 cells. (a) Electron micrograph showing virions forming at the cell surface. (b) Cross-section of virions at the cell surface and in an intracellular space. Bars, 100 nm.

Fig. 2.

Phylogeny and organization of the KOLEV genome. (a, b) ML phylogenetic trees of rhabdoviruses based on (a) L protein and (b) N protein sequences. Bootstrap support values (>70 %) are shown for key nodes (except the grouping of KOLEV and OITAV). All horizontal branch lengths are drawn to a scale of amino acid substitutions/site. The L protein tree is rooted in the position observed in a broader analysis of members of the family Rhabdoviridae (i.e. including members of the genera Cytorhabdovirus, Novirhabdovirus and Nucleorhabdovirus; not shown), whilst the N protein tree is mid-point rooted. Asterisks indicate genera not yet formally approved by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Definitions of virus abbreviations are listed in Table S1. (c) Schematic representation of the KOLEV genome organization. Block arrows indicate the location of long ORFs, including overlapping ORFs of >180 nt (grey shading). Shown below are the KOLEV coding regions, designated ORFs and putative transcription regulatory sequences.