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Genomic characterization of a novel astrovirus identified in Amur tigers from a zoo in China

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Abstract

Astroviruses (AstVs) have a very wide range of hosts and are associated with enteric and extra-enteric disease in mammals and birds. Cross-species transmission of AstVs has been observed frequently. In the present study, the genome of a novel astrovirus from Amur tigers (Panthera tigris) from a zoo in China was characterized and was found to have the typical genomic features of other mammal AstVs. It showed the highest nucleotide sequence similarity (46.1-87.3% identity) to AstVs from cats, indicating a close phylogenetic relationship and possible cross-species transmission between them. To our knowledge, this is the first identification and characterization of AstV from tigers, and this virus is the third astrovirus identified in hosts of the family Felidae. The results of this study will be helpful for understanding the origin, genetic diversity, and cross-species transmission of AstV.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant no. 2017YFD0500104) and the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, China (Grant nos. 2017JJ2043 and 2018JJ3039).

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Author notes

  1. Hui-Hui Zhang and Qi-Guan Qiu contributed equally to the manuscript.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China

    Hui-Hui Zhang, Shu-Jing Liu, Wen-Qin Hu, Jie-Yu Li, Tian-Ning Liu, You-Song Peng, Xing-Yi Ge & Chao-Ting Xiao

  2. Changsha Ecological Zoo, Changsha, 410000, China

    Qi-Guan Qiu

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  1. Hui-Hui Zhang
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Correspondence to Chao-Ting Xiao.

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Zhang, HH., Qiu, QG., Liu, SJ. et al. Genomic characterization of a novel astrovirus identified in Amur tigers from a zoo in China. Arch Virol 164, 3151–3155 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-019-04435-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-019-04435-2

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