George Uwem E, De Coninck Lander, George Oluwadamilola A, Adeyanju Taiye, Oragwa Arthur, Kamani Joshua, Igbokwe Joseph, Adamu Andrew, Faleye Temitope, Adeleke Richard, Adesoji Tomiwa, Soh Timothy K, Sowemimo Oluyomi, Eromon Philomena, Adewumi Olubusuyi M, Adeniji Johnson A, Folarin Onikepe, Weaver Scott C, Happi Anise, Bosse Jens B, Cross Robert W, Komolafe Isaac, Matthijnssens Jelle, Happi Christian
Institute of Genomics and Global Health (formerly ACEGID), Redeemer's University, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, 77555, Texas, USA.
EMI Anim Environ. 2025 May 8:1-37. doi: 10.1080/29986990.2025.2503155.
Sapovirus (SaV) infections have been linked with moderate-to-severe acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in animals and humans and represent a significant risk to public health. SaVs from animals including pigs, chimpanzees, and rodents have been reported to be closely related with human SaVs, indicating the possibility of cross-species transmission. Divergent SaVs have been reported in various bat species across various continents including Asia, Europe, Oceania and Africa. However, little is known about the evolutionary history of SaVs across various bat species and their zoonotic potential. In this report, we describe the findings of a surveillance study across various bat species in Nigeria. Samples were pooled and subjected to metagenomics sequencing and analyses. Nine of 57 sample pools (containing 223 rectal swabs from five bat species) had SaV reads from which we assembled a total of four complete and three near-complete (having complete coding sequences) genomes. The bat SaV (BtSaV) strains from this study formed five distinct lineages of which four represented novel genogroups. BtSaV lineages clustered mainly according to bat families, which might suggest a likely virus-host-specific evolution. The BtSaV VP1 capsid protein structure prediction confirmed three main domains (S, P1, and P2) as reported for Human SaV (HuSaV). We found that the P2 subdomain of the VP1 protein contains a degree of homology to known immunoreactive epitopes suggesting these conserved regions may be valuable for diagnostics or medical countermeasure development. This study expands our understanding of reservoir hosts, provides information on the genetic diversity and continuous evolution of SaVs in bats.
札幌病毒（SaV）感染与动物和人类的中重度急性胃肠炎（AGE）有关，对公众健康构成重大风险。据报道，来自猪、黑猩猩和啮齿动物等动物的SaV与人类SaV密切相关，这表明存在跨物种传播的可能性。在亚洲、欧洲、大洋洲和非洲等各大洲的各种蝙蝠物种中都报告了不同的SaV。然而，对于不同蝙蝠物种中SaV的进化历史及其人畜共患病潜力知之甚少。在本报告中，我们描述了在尼日利亚对各种蝙蝠物种进行监测研究的结果。样本被汇集起来并进行宏基因组测序和分析。57个样本池（包含来自5种蝙蝠物种的223份直肠拭子）中有9个有SaV读数，我们从中总共组装了4个完整基因组和3个近乎完整（具有完整编码序列）的基因组。本研究中的蝙蝠SaV（BtSaV）毒株形成了5个不同的谱系，其中4个代表新的基因组群。BtSaV谱系主要根据蝙蝠科聚类，这可能表明病毒与宿主之间可能存在特异性进化。BtSaV VP1衣壳蛋白结构预测证实了与人类SaV（HuSaV）报道的三个主要结构域（S、P1和P2）。我们发现VP1蛋白的P2亚结构域与已知的免疫反应性表位有一定程度的同源性，这表明这些保守区域可能对诊断或医学对策开发有价值。这项研究扩展了我们对宿主库的理解，提供了关于蝙蝠中SaV的遗传多样性和持续进化的信息。
