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. 2017 Nov 29;9(12):364.
doi: 10.3390/v9120364.

Identification of Alpha and Beta Coronavirus in Wildlife Species in France: Bats, Rodents, Rabbits, and Hedgehogs

Elodie Monchatre-Leroy  1 , Franck Boué  2 , Jean-Marc Boucher  3 , Camille Renault  4 , François Moutou  5 , Meriadeg Ar Gouilh  6   7 , Gérald Umhang  8
Affiliations

Identification of Alpha and Beta Coronavirus in Wildlife Species in France: Bats, Rodents, Rabbits, and Hedgehogs

Elodie Monchatre-Leroy et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

Coronaviruses are closely monitored in the context of emerging diseases and, as illustrated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-coronavirus (MERS-CoV), are known to cross the species barrier and eventually to move from wildlife to humans. Knowledge of the diversity of coronaviruses in wildlife is therefore essential to better understand and prevent emergence events. This study explored the presence of coronaviruses in four wild mammal orders in France: Bats, rodents, lagomorphs, and hedgehogs. Betacoronavirus and Alphacoronavirus genera were identified. The results obtained suggest the circulation of potentially evolving virus strains, with the potential to cross the species barrier.

Keywords: France; bats; coronavirus; genetic diversity; hedgehogs; rodents; wild rabbits; wildlife.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The founding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Different types of collected samples by French administrative department (excluding French Guyana in South America).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bayesian phylogeny of 50 genetic sequences of viruses detected in the study with 127 representative sequences of the whole diversity of the group of Coronavirinae. Selected coronavirus RdRp sequences, including some extracted from full genomes, were aligned with original sequences from this study in SEAVIEW v4.6. [8]. Statistical support (posterior probability) of nodes are depicted using a gradual color code of the tree, with green indicating significant posterior probability values (>0.95). Genbank identification numbers, strain names, and the main information are written in taxa labels. Taxa labels of Alphacoronavirus, Betacoronavirus and of the clade grouping Gammacoronavirus and Deltacoronavirus are in purple, blue, and orange, respectively. Viruses detected in this study are depicted in red (HE: Sequences from hedgehogs, R: Sequences from rodents, CS: Sequences from bats; and L: Sequences from rabbits).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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