tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
PLoS One
. 2021 Jun 16;16(6):e0252534.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252534. eCollection 2021.
Metagenomic analysis of fecal and tissue samples from 18 endemic bat species in Switzerland revealed a diverse virus composition including potentially zoonotic viruses
Isabelle Hardmeier[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nadja Aeberhard[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Weihong Qi[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Katja Schoenbaechler[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Hubert Kraettli[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Jean-Michel Hatt[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Cornel Fraefel[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jakub Kubacki[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Many recent disease outbreaks in humans had a zoonotic virus etiology. Bats in particular have been recognized as reservoirs to a large variety of viruses with the potential to cross-species transmission. In order to assess the risk of bats in Switzerland for such transmissions, we determined the virome of tissue and fecal samples of 14 native and 4 migrating bat species. In total, sequences belonging to 39 different virus families, 16 of which are known to infect vertebrates, were detected. Contigs of coronaviruses, adenoviruses, hepeviruses, rotaviruses A and H, and parvoviruses with potential zoonotic risk were characterized in more detail. Most interestingly, in a ground stool sample of a Vespertilio murinus colony an almost complete genome of a Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was detected by Next generation sequencing and confirmed by PCR. In conclusion, bats in Switzerland naturally harbour many different viruses. Metagenomic analyses of non-invasive samples like ground stool may support effective surveillance and early detection of viral zoonoses.
. 2021 Jun 16;16(6):e0252534.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252534. eCollection 2021.
Metagenomic analysis of fecal and tissue samples from 18 endemic bat species in Switzerland revealed a diverse virus composition including potentially zoonotic viruses
Isabelle Hardmeier[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nadja Aeberhard[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Weihong Qi[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Katja Schoenbaechler[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Hubert Kraettli[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Jean-Michel Hatt[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Cornel Fraefel[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jakub Kubacki[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 34133435
- DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252534
Abstract
Many recent disease outbreaks in humans had a zoonotic virus etiology. Bats in particular have been recognized as reservoirs to a large variety of viruses with the potential to cross-species transmission. In order to assess the risk of bats in Switzerland for such transmissions, we determined the virome of tissue and fecal samples of 14 native and 4 migrating bat species. In total, sequences belonging to 39 different virus families, 16 of which are known to infect vertebrates, were detected. Contigs of coronaviruses, adenoviruses, hepeviruses, rotaviruses A and H, and parvoviruses with potential zoonotic risk were characterized in more detail. Most interestingly, in a ground stool sample of a Vespertilio murinus colony an almost complete genome of a Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was detected by Next generation sequencing and confirmed by PCR. In conclusion, bats in Switzerland naturally harbour many different viruses. Metagenomic analyses of non-invasive samples like ground stool may support effective surveillance and early detection of viral zoonoses.