Vitalant Research Institute, 270 Masonic Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA.
Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA.
Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 12;11(1):815. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-80076-9.
CrAssphages are a diverse group of related phages detected in human feces where they are the most prevalent and abundant prokaryotic virus. CrAssphages' cellular host has been identified as the anaerobic Bacteroides intestinalis. CrAssphage has also been reported in non-human primates and environmental samples and has been proposed as a marker of human fecal contamination. Here we describe crAssphage DNA in a feline fecal sample. 95% of the ~ 100 Kb genome could be assembled and classified in genus 1 of the recently proposed Alphacrassvirinae subfamily. The cat origin of the fecal sample was confirmed by partial mitochondrial DNA sequencing. High levels of Bacteroides intestinalis DNA could also be detected in this cat's feces. Fecal samples longitudinally collected over a 4-week period showed the continuous shedding of crAssphage DNA. We therefore report the first genome sequence-confirmed detection of crAssphage in fecal samples of a non-primate mammal.
粪质噬菌体是一类广泛存在于人类粪便中的相关噬菌体，它们是最普遍和丰富的原核病毒。粪质噬菌体的宿主细胞已被鉴定为厌氧拟杆菌肠道亚种。粪质噬菌体也在非人类灵长类动物和环境样本中被报道，并被提议作为人类粪便污染的标志物。在这里，我们描述了在猫的粪便样本中存在的粪质噬菌体 DNA。可以组装和分类出约 100kb 基因组的 95%，并归类于最近提出的 Alphacrassvirinae 亚科的第 1 属。粪便样本的猫科动物来源通过部分线粒体 DNA 测序得到了确认。在这只猫的粪便中也可以检测到高水平的肠道拟杆菌 DNA。在为期 4 周的时间里，纵向收集的粪便样本显示出 crAssphage DNA 的持续脱落。因此，我们报告了在非灵长类哺乳动物的粪便样本中首次通过基因组序列确认检测到 crAssphage。
