Elsevier

Virus Research

Volume 79, Issues 1–2, 5 November 2001, Pages 103-108
Virus Research

Paired chimpanzee hepatitis B virus (ChHBV) and mtDNA sequences suggest different ChHBV genetic variants are found in geographically distinct chimpanzee subspecies

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1702(01)00334-3Get rights and content

Abstract

The surface antigen gene region from five chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected chimpanzees was amplified by PCR and the sequence determined. Sequence comparison confirmed that all of the sequences were chimpanzee hepatitis B virus (chHBV) and they appeared to represent three distinct clusters or branches. To address the question of whether the three branches represented recently identified subspecies of chimpanzees, we determined the sequence of the mitochondrial DNA hypervariable D loop from hair samples obtained from these five chimpanzees. The results indicated that the three chHBV branches reflected three distinct subspecies of chimpanzees that are from different geographic regions in West Africa. The complete HBV sequence from members of the Pan troglodytes troglodytes cluster and the Pan troglodytes verus cluster are in the published literature; we determined the complete genome sequence for the third branch of HBV present in Pan troglodytes vellerosus.

References (22)

  • B.H. Hahn et al.

    AIDS as a zoonosis: scientific and public health implications

    Science

    (2000)
  • Cited by (30)

    • HBV evolution and genetic variability: Impact on prevention, treatment and development of antivirals

      2021, Antiviral Research
      Citation Excerpt :

      The viral strains found to circulate in non-human apes constitute two distinct branches interspersed into the phylogeny of human HBV genotypes (Fig. 3). One branch comprises the isolates from African apes, i.e. chimpanzees and gorillas (Hu et al., 2001; MacDonald et al., 2000; Njouom et al., 2010; Takahashi et al., 2000); the other one contains those from Asian apes, i.e. gibbons and orangutans (Noppornpanth et al., 2003; Sa-nguanmoo et al., 2008; Sall et al., 2005; Verschoor et al., 2001; Warren et al., 1999). Neither the phylogenetic pattern, nor the geographic distribution of the genotypes is compatible with an exclusive mode of virus-host co-divergence and co-spreading (Littlejohn et al., 2016), but rather indicates that independent introductions into the respective host populations occurred repeatedly in the past.

    • A great ape perspective on the origins and evolution of human viruses

      2021, Advances in Virus Research
      Citation Excerpt :

      Importantly, humans can also transmit their viruses to AGA. While this is obvious from ongoing observations of respiratory virus transmission in the context of long-term habituation programs of wild great apes (see next section), hepatitis B viruses enzootically infecting wild AGA (Hu et al., 2001; MacDonald et al., 2000; Njouom et al., 2010; Takahashi et al., 2000) were likely transmitted from humans a few thousand years ago (Mühlemann et al., 2018). In line with the expectations of the Paleolithic baseline model, the zoonotic emergence of viruses appears as a relatively common (and still ongoing) process in the hominine lineage.

    • Bat hepadnaviruses and the origins of primate hepatitis B viruses

      2016, Current Opinion in Virology
      Citation Excerpt :

      The time of putative zoonotic introductions of nonprimate hepadnaviruses into the primate lineage is unknown. Even for the well-studied primate hepadnaviruses, estimates of the evolutionary origins vary by several orders of magnitude [11,44–46]. The divergence of these estimates may be associated with the mosaic genome structure and overlapping open reading frames of hepadnaviruses, which complicate phylogenetic reconstructions [10,47].

    • Theories about evolutionary origins of human hepatitis B virus in primates and humans

      2014, Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases
      Citation Excerpt :

      The origin of these viruses remains controversial. Chimpanzees from different regions of the planet appear to be infected with different types of isolates,27 supporting the concept that these viruses may have evolved with their hosts. However, the hepadnavirus isolated from woolly monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha) – woolly monkey HBV (WMHBV) clearly is a new member of the Hepadnaviridae family.32

    • Possible origins and evolution of the hepatitis B virus (HBV)

      2013, Seminars in Cancer Biology
      Citation Excerpt :

      The third model for HBV origins proposes that the presence of species specific variants in chimpanzees and gorillas (Africa), gibbons and orangutans (Asia) and woolly monkeys (South America) strongly implies that species specific evolution (co-speciation) occurred within primates over the past 10–35 million years [91], following cross-species transmission [74]. Different geographical subspecies of chimpanzees (based upon mtDNA sequences) have ChHBV sequences that constitute unique phylogenetic clades and would support HBV co-speciation within chimpanzees [94]. However, the grouping of the gorilla HBV sequences with the ChHBV, specifically from P.t. troglodytes (Fig. 3B), with whom they share an overlapping geographical range, does pose a problem for this interpretation.

    • Viral Diseases of Nonhuman Primates

      2012, Nonhuman Primates in Biomedical Research: Diseases: Second Edition
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text