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Paietta EN, Kraberger S, Regney M, Custer JM, Ehmke E, Yoder AD, Varsani A. Interspecies Papillomavirus Type Infection and a Novel Papillomavirus Type in Red Ruffed Lemurs ( Varecia rubra). Viruses 2023; 16:37. [PMID: 38257737 PMCID: PMC10818365 DOI: 10.3390/v16010037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2023] [Revised: 12/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
The Papillomaviridae are a family of vertebrate-infecting viruses of oncogenic potential generally thought to be host species- and tissue-specific. Despite their phylogenetic relatedness to humans, there is a scarcity of data on papillomaviruses (PVs) in speciose non-human primate lineages, particularly the lemuriform primates. Varecia variegata (black-and-white ruffed lemurs) and Varecia rubra (red ruffed lemurs), two closely related species comprising the Varecia genus, are critically endangered with large global captive populations. Varecia variegata papillomavirus (VavPV) types -1 and -2, the first PVs in lemurs with a fully identified genome, were previously characterized from captive V. variegata saliva. To build upon this discovery, saliva samples were collected from captive V. rubra with the following aims: (1) to identify PVs shared between V. variegata and V. rubra and (2) to characterize novel PVs in V. rubra to better understand PV diversity in the lemuriform primates. Three complete PV genomes were determined from V. rubra samples. Two of these PV genomes share 98% L1 nucleotide identity with VavPV2, denoting interspecies infection of V. rubra by VavPV2. This work represents the first reported case of interspecies PV infection amongst the strepsirrhine primates. The third PV genome shares <68% L1 nucleotide identity with that of all PVs. Thus, it represents a new PV species and has been named Varecia rubra papillomavirus 1 (VarPV1). VavPV1, VavPV2, and VarPV1 form a new clade within the Papillomaviridae family, likely representing a novel genus. Future work diversifying sample collection (i.e., lemur host species from multiple genera, sample type, geographic location, and wild populations) is likely to uncover a world of diverse lemur PVs.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Simona Kraberger
- The Biodesign Center for Fundamental and Applied Microbiomics, Center for Evolution and Medicine, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; (S.K.); (M.R.); (J.M.C.)
| | - Melanie Regney
- The Biodesign Center for Fundamental and Applied Microbiomics, Center for Evolution and Medicine, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; (S.K.); (M.R.); (J.M.C.)
| | - Joy M. Custer
- The Biodesign Center for Fundamental and Applied Microbiomics, Center for Evolution and Medicine, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; (S.K.); (M.R.); (J.M.C.)
| | - Erin Ehmke
- Duke Lemur Center, Durham, NC 27705, USA;
| | - Anne D. Yoder
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA;
| | - Arvind Varsani
- The Biodesign Center for Fundamental and Applied Microbiomics, Center for Evolution and Medicine, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; (S.K.); (M.R.); (J.M.C.)
- Structural Biology Research Unit, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa
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