Ledantevirus: a proposed new genus in the Rhabdoviridae has a strong ecological association with bats

Abstract

The Le Dantec serogroup of rhabdoviruses comprises Le Dantec virus from a human with encephalitis and Keuriliba virus from rodents, each isolated in Senegal. The Kern Canyon serogroup comprises a loosely connected set of rhabdoviruses many of which have been isolated from bats, including Kern Canyon virus from California, Nkolbisson virus from Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Cote d'Ivoire, Kolente virus from Guinea, Mount Elgon bat and Fikirini viruses from Kenya, and Oita virus from Japan. Fukuoka virus isolated from mosquitoes, midges, and cattle in Japan, Barur virus from a rodent in India and Nishimuro virus from pigs in Japan have also been linked genetically or serologically to this group. Here, we analyze the genome sequences and phylogenetic relationships of this set of viruses. We show that they form three subgroups within a monophyletic group, which we propose should constitute the new genus Ledantevirus.

Figure 1.

(A) Schematic representation of ledantevirus genome organizations showing the locations of all open reading frames (ORFs) > 180 nt, with dark gray denoting U1 ORFs, black Fukuoka virus (FUKV) Mx ORF, and pale gray with dashed outline other possible ORFs. (B) Alignment of the U1 proteins of Keuraliba virus (KEUV), Le Dantec virus (LDV), and Kern Canyon virus (KCV). (C) Sequence of the FUKV Mx protein and its predicted membrane topology (TMHMM; http://web.expasy.org).

Figure 2.

Maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees of the ledanteviruses (boxed) and select members of the Rhabdoviridae based on L (a) and N (b) protein alignments. Sequences generated in this study are shown in bold, and subgroups A, B, and C are indicated above the respective nodes. Bootstrap support values > 70% are indicated below each node; for clarity these values are given for major clades in the L tree only. Rhabdoviruses included in these analyses comprised: Ikoma virus (IKOV), West Caucasian bat virus (WCBV), Shimoni bat virus (SBV), Mokola virus (MOKV), Lagos bat virus (LBV), Ozernoe virus (OZEV), Duvenhage virus (DUVV), European bat lyssavirus 1 (EBLV-1) and 2 (EBLV-2), Rabies virus (RABV), Aravan virus (ARAV) Khujand virus (KHUV), Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV), Arboretum virus (ABTV), Puerto Almendras virus (PTAMV), North Creek virus (NORCV), Drosophila melanogaster sigmavirus (DMelSV), Drosophila obscura sigmavirus (DObSV), Durham virus (DURV), Tupai virus (TUPV), Niakha virus (NIAV), Oak vale rhabdovirus (OVRV), Sunguru virus (SUNV), Wongabel virus (WONV), Ngaingan virus (NGAV), Flanders virus (FLAV), Hart Park virus (HPV), Coastal Plains virus (CPV), Tibrogargan virus (TIBV), kotonkon virus (KOTV), Adelaide River virus (ARV), Obodhiang virus (OBOV), Kimberley virus (KIMV), bovine ephemeral fever virus (BEFV), Berrimah virus (BRMV), Nkolbisson virus (NKOV), Nishimuro virus (NISV), Barur virus (BARV), Fukuoka virus (FUKV), Kern Canyon virus (KCV), Keuraliba virus (KEUV), Le Dantec virus (LDV), Mount Elgon bat virus (MEBV), Oita virus (OITAV), Fikirini virus (FKRV), Kolente virus (KOLEV), Siniperca chuatsi rhabdovirus (SCRV), Eel virus X (EVEX), Perch rhabdovirus (PRV), Pike fry rhabdovirus (PFRV), spring viremia of carp virus (SVCV), Perinet virus (PERV), Chandipura virus (CHNV), Malpais Spring virus (MSPV), Isfahan virus (ISFV), vesicular stomatitis virus New Jersey (VSNJV), Indiana (VSIV) and Alagoas (VSAV), Maraba virus (MARAV), Cocal virus (COCV), Radi virus (RADIV), Jurona virus (JURV), Morreton virus (MORV).