Novel anelloviruses identified in buccal swabs of Antarctic fur seals

Abstract

Viral diversity associated with Antarctic wildlife remains poorly studied. Nonetheless, over the past 5 years, there has been a concerted effort using viral metagenomics approaches to identify and characterize viruses associated with Antarctic pinniped and avian species. Here we used a viral metagenomics approach to identify circular DNA viruses in buccal swab samples from Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) breeding on Livingston Island, Antarctica during the 2016/2017 field season. We identified two new lineages of anelloviruses, torque teno Arctocephalus gazella virus (TTAgV)-1 (2083 nts) and -2 (2127-2143 nts), which are most closely related to and cluster with a previously identified anellovirus associated with California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) sharing ~ 60% genome-wide pairwise identity. The ORF1 of TTAgVs share 26-41% amino acid similarity to the ORF1 of other previously identified pinniped-associated anelloviruses.

Keywords: Anelloviridae; Antarctica; Arctocephalus gazella; Pinniped; SsDNA virus.