Sarker Subir, Das Shubhagata, Lavers Jennifer L, Hutton Ian, Helbig Karla, Imbery Jacob, Upton Chris, Raidal Shane R
Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, 3086, Australia.
School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2678, Australia.
BMC Genomics. 2017 Apr 13;18(1):298. doi: 10.1186/s12864-017-3680-z.
Over the past 20 years, many marine seabird populations have been gradually declining and the factors driving this ongoing deterioration are not always well understood. Avipoxvirus infections have been found in a wide range of bird species worldwide, however, very little is known about the disease ecology of avian poxviruses in seabirds. Here we present two novel avipoxviruses from pacific shearwaters (Ardenna spp), one from a Flesh-footed Shearwater (A. carneipes) (SWPV-1) and the other from a Wedge-tailed Shearwater (A. pacificus) (SWPV-2).
Epidermal pox lesions, liver, and blood samples were examined from A. carneipes and A. pacificus of breeding colonies in eastern Australia. After histopathological confirmation of the disease, PCR screening was conducted for avipoxvirus, circovirus, reticuloendotheliosis virus, and fungal agents. Two samples that were PCR positive for poxvirus were further assessed by next generation sequencing, which yielded complete Shearwaterpox virus (SWPV) genomes from A. pacificus and A. carneipes, both showing the highest degree of similarity with Canarypox virus (98% and 67%, respectively). The novel SWPV-1 complete genome from A. carneipes is missing 43 genes compared to CNPV and contains 4 predicted genes which are not found in any other poxvirus, whilst, SWPV-2 complete genome was deemed to be missing 18 genes compared to CNPV and a further 15 genes significantly fragmented as to probably cause them to be non-functional.
These are the first avipoxvirus complete genome sequences that infect marine seabirds. In the comparison of SWPV-1 and -2 to existing avipoxvirus sequences, our results indicate that the SWPV complete genome from A. carneipes (SWPV-1) described here is not closely related to any other avipoxvirus genome isolated from avian or other natural host species, and that it likely should be considered a separate species.
在过去20年里，许多海洋海鸟种群数量逐渐减少，而导致这种持续恶化的因素并不总是被充分理解。禽痘病毒感染在全球范围内的多种鸟类中都有发现，然而，关于海鸟中禽痘病毒的疾病生态学却知之甚少。在此，我们展示了两种来自太平洋鹱（Ardenna spp）的新型禽痘病毒，一种来自肉足鹱（A. carneipes）（SWPV - 1），另一种来自楔尾鹱（A. pacificus）（SWPV - 2）。
对澳大利亚东部繁殖群体中的肉足鹱和楔尾鹱的表皮痘疹病变、肝脏和血液样本进行了检查。在对疾病进行组织病理学确认后，对禽痘病毒、圆环病毒、网状内皮组织增生症病毒和真菌病原体进行了PCR筛查。对两个痘病毒PCR阳性样本进行了下一代测序进一步评估，从楔尾鹱和肉足鹱中获得了完整的鹱痘病毒（SWPV）基因组，两者与金丝雀痘病毒的相似度最高（分别为98%和67%）。与CNPV相比，来自肉足鹱的新型SWPV - 1完整基因组缺失43个基因，包含4个在任何其他痘病毒中都未发现的预测基因，而与CNPV相比，SWPV - 2完整基因组被认为缺失18个基因，另有15个基因严重碎片化，可能导致它们失去功能。
这些是首次感染海洋海鸟的禽痘病毒完整基因组序列。在将SWPV - 1和 - 2与现有禽痘病毒序列进行比较时，我们的结果表明，这里描述的来自肉足鹱的SWPV完整基因组（SWPV - 1）与从禽类或其他自然宿主物种中分离出的任何其他禽痘病毒基因组关系不密切，可能应被视为一个单独的物种。
