Kulberg Jessica L, Hooper Sarah, Malik Yashpal S, Ghosh Souvik
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, Basseterre P.O. Box 334, Saint Kitts and Nevis.
ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Mukteswar 263168, Uttarakhand, India.
Microorganisms. 2024 Dec 16;12(12):2603. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms12122603.
To date, limited information is available on herpesviruses in bats from the Caribbean region. We report here high detection rates (24.24%, n = 66) of herpesviruses in oral samples from apparently healthy bats ( (75%, 9/12) and (28%, 7/25)) on the Lesser Antillean Island of St. Kitts. Based on analysis of partial DNA polymerase (DPOL) sequences (~225 amino acid (aa) residues), we identified two distinct groups of herpesviruses (BO-I and -II) that were unique to and , respectively. Within the subfamily , the BO-I DPOL sequences shared low deduced aa identities (<70%) with other herpesviruses, and phylogenetically, they formed a distinct cluster, representing a putative novel betaherpesvirus. The BO-II DPOL sequences were closely related to a putative novel betaherpesvirus from a in Lesser Antillean Island of Martinique, indicating possible transmission of herpesviruses by bat movement between the Caribbean Islands. Phylogenetically, the BO-I and -II betaherpesviruses exhibited species-specific ( and , respectively) as well as family-specific ( and , respectively) clustering patterns, corroborating the hypothesis on host specificity of betaherpesviruses. Interestingly, a single betaherpesvirus strain clustered with the betaherpesviruses, indicating possible interspecies transmission of herpesviruses between and . To our knowledge, this is the first report on detection of herpesviruses from Antillean tree bats (), expanding the host range of betaherpesviruses. Taken together, the present study identified putative novel betaherpesviruses that might be unique to chiropteran species ( and , indicating virus-host coevolution, and provided evidence for interspecies transmission of betaherpesviruses between chiropteran families.
迄今为止，关于加勒比地区蝙蝠疱疹病毒的信息有限。我们在此报告，在圣基茨小安的列斯群岛上，从看似健康的蝙蝠口腔样本中检测到疱疹病毒的比例很高（24.24%，n = 66）（分别为75%（9/12）和28%（7/25））。基于对部分DNA聚合酶（DPOL）序列（约225个氨基酸（aa）残基）的分析，我们鉴定出两组不同的疱疹病毒（BO-I和-II），它们分别是圣基茨和尼维斯独有的。在疱疹病毒亚科内，BO-I DPOL序列与其他疱疹病毒的推导氨基酸同一性较低（<70%），并且在系统发育上，它们形成了一个独特的簇，代表一种假定的新型β疱疹病毒。BO-II DPOL序列与来自马提尼克岛小安的列斯群岛一只蝙蝠的一种假定新型β疱疹病毒密切相关，表明疱疹病毒可能通过蝙蝠在加勒比岛屿之间的移动传播。在系统发育上，BO-I和-IIβ疱疹病毒分别表现出物种特异性（分别为圣基茨和尼维斯）以及科特异性（分别为BO-I和-II）的聚类模式，证实了关于β疱疹病毒宿主特异性的假设。有趣的是，一个单一的圣基茨β疱疹病毒株与尼维斯β疱疹病毒聚类，表明疱疹病毒可能在圣基茨和尼维斯之间进行种间传播。据我们所知，这是关于从小安的列斯果蝠（）中检测到疱疹病毒的首次报告，扩大了β疱疹病毒的宿主范围。综上所述，本研究鉴定出可能是翼手目物种（圣基茨和尼维斯）独有的假定新型β疱疹病毒，表明病毒与宿主共同进化，并为β疱疹病毒在翼手目科之间的种间传播提供了证据。
