Cameroonian fruit bats harbor divergent viruses, including rotavirus H, bastroviruses, and picobirnaviruses using an alternative genetic code

Yinda, Claude Kwe; Ghogomu, Stephen Mbigha; Conceição-Neto, Nádia; Beller, Leen; Deboutte, Ward; Vanhulle, Emiel; Maes, Piet; Van Ranst, Marc; Matthijnssens, Jelle

The identification of Rotavirus H (RVH) in bats from Cameroon and Korea (Kim et al. 2016) , further broadens the breath of viruses found in bats so far. Given that this is the first near complete RVH genome identification in bats, more in vivo and extensive molecular epidemiologic studies are required to completely understand their genetic diversity and geographical spread. Furthermore, the phylogeny of RVH shows clear distinct clades of human, porcine and bat indicating that no interspecies transmission of this virus occurred in the recent past. In the same light, the presence of bastrovirus previously described only in humans (Oude Munnink et al. 2016 ) further indicates the increasing breath of viruses in bats. On the other hand, the bastrovirus capsid and the RdRp trees show different topologies and are phylogenetically related to astroviruses and hepatitis E viruses, respectively. This is in line with previous findings that hypothesize a recombination event between members of the family Astroviridae and Hepeviridae in the distant past (Oude Munnink et al. 2016) . Furthermore, we observed phylogenetic incongruence within the bat bastroviruses, suggesting the occurrence of additional recombination events. These recombinations indicate that multiple bastroviruses may co-circulate and also co-infect the same host. A better understanding of the evolutionary history, host range and zoonotic potential of bastroviruses will be revealed without a doubt with ongoing and future virome studies in humans and animals. Whether or not these strains of RVH and bastrovirus can cause diseases in bats still need to be investigated.