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Circulation of picobirnavirus in Neotropical free-ranging mammals

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Abstract

Picobirnavirus (PBV) is a family of non-enveloped double-stranded RNA viruses with bisegmented genomes. Segment 1 encodes the capsid protein and segment 2 encodes RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. They exhibit high genomic heterogeneity and infect a wide range of vertebrate hosts, including humans. The objective of this study was to expand our knowledge of the circulation of PBV in free-living animals from two regions (Brazil and Argentina) of the Atlantic Forest. Fecal samples were analyzed from free-living animals: tapir, brocket deer, peccary, and different species of rodents and marsupials. A total of 133 samples were collected and analyzed by RT-PCR, of which 44 (33.08%) were PBV-positive. Nine amplicons were sequenced, five species from Argentina and four from Brazil, and phylogenetic analysis was performed. The nucleotide and amino acid identities of the PBV strains detected in animals from Argentina and Brazil were between 66.3% and 82.5% and between 55.3% and 74.2%, respectively. The analysed strains presented conserved nucleotide blocks without distinction of the host species. The phylogenetic tree showed that PBV strains from Atlantic Forest animals belonging to genogroup I were grouped into different clusters, without defining groups according to host species (human or animal) or the geographical area of detection. This is the first study on PBV in free-living animals in the Atlantic Forest. Our analysis suggested that PBV strains can infect different animal species, leading to PBV transmission between animals and humans. This reinforces the hypothesis of previous crossover points in the ecology and evolution of heterologous PBV strains.

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Data availability

The authors declare that all data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its Supplementary Information files.

Sequence accession numbers and link.

ON309129. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/ON309129

ON309130. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/ON309130

ON309131. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/ON309131

ON309132. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/ON309132

ON309133. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/ON309133

ON309134. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/ON309134

ON309135. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/ON309135

ON309136. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/ON309136

ON309137. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/ON309137

ON309138. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/ON309138

ON309139. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/ON309139

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Iguazú National Park, Administración de Parques Nacionales and the Brazilian Natural reserves for research permits and lodging facilities. This work was supported by the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET).

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

E.V, G.M and A.D conceived the study, contributed to the conceptual development and study design. F.V conducted the study and designed the sampling from Brazil, contributed to the conceptual development and study design. E.V. performed the field work and faecal samples collection from Argentina. R.P and I.M performed the field work and faecal samples collection from Brazil. E.V performed the laboratory analyses with the guidance of G.M. E.V and G.M. wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and all authors contributed substantially to further development of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ezequiel Vanderhoeven.

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Animal ethics

The authors declare that the capture, handling and manipulation of the animals were done under the rules stipulated in the research permits (permit number: 46596–1). All animals were released in the same capture area and this study did not require the euthanasia of the animals to obtain the sample. Samples from tapirs, brocket deer and peccaries were collected in the field without involving the capture, handling and manipulation of any animal.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Correspondence and material requests should be addressed to E.V.

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Supplementary file1 (XLSX 14 KB)

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Vanderhoeven, E., Paresque, R., Mello, I. et al. Circulation of picobirnavirus in Neotropical free-ranging mammals. Vet Res Commun 48, 1097–1109 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-023-10282-z

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