Discovery of a phylogenetically distinct poxvirus in diseased Crocodilurus amazonicus (family Teiidae)

Abstract

A novel poxvirus was discovered in Crocodilurus amazonicus (Teiidae) presenting with a debilitating skin disease. The generated first genome sequence of a reptilian poxvirus revealed the closest phylogenetic relationship to avipoxviruses, highlighting potential virus exchanges between avian and reptilian species.

Fig. 1

Pathologic and histologic examination. (A) Macroscopic presentation of skin lesions, represented by multiple, up to lentil-sized, elevated, partially ulcerated foci. This scale bar is in centimeters. (B) Hematoxylin-eosin-stained tissue section of an affected area of skin, displaying severe ballooning of the cells and prominent, eosinophilic intracytoplasmatic inclusion bodies. (C) Multiple poxvirus-like particles in skin lesions detected by transmission electron microscopy of uranyl-acetate-stained tissue sections.

Fig. 2

Phylogenetic relationship of TePV-1 to other members of the subfamily Chordopoxvirinae. (A) Neighbor-joining tree based on the DNA polymerase protein sequence. (B) Neighbor-joining tree based on the DNA topoisomerase protein sequence. (C) Neighbor-joining tree of the full genome sequences based on avipoxviruses. All branches had a bootstrap value of 100. All trees were generated after multiple sequence alignment in CLC Workbench with 1,000 replicates. The GenBank accession numbers for sequences employed in this analysis are as follows: canarypox virus, NC_005309.1; eptesipox virus, NC_035460.1; flamingopox virus, MF678796.1; fowlpox virus, NC_002188.1; hypsugopox virus, MK860688.1; lumpy skin disease virus, NC_003027.1; magpiepox virus, MK903864.1; myxoma virus, NC_001132.2; Nile crocodilepox virus, DQ356948.1; penguinpox virus, KJ859677.1; pigeonpox virus: KJ801920.1; pteropox virus, NC_030656.1; saltwater crocodile poxvirus 1, MG450915.1; saltwater crocodile poxvirus 2, MG450916.1; shearwaterpox virus 1, KX857216.1; shearwaterpox virus 2, KX857215.1; squirrelpox virus, NC_022563.1; tanapox virus, EF420157.1; turkeypox virus, KP728110.2; vaccinia virus, NC_006998.1; variola virus, NC_001611.1; Yaba-like disease virus, NC_002642.1.