How and Why Overcome the Impediments to Resolution: Lessons from rhinolophid and hipposiderid Bats

Foley, Nicole M.; Thong, Vu Dinh; Soisook, Pipat; Goodman, Steven M.; Armstrong, Kyle N.; Jacobs, David S.; Puechmaille, Sébastien J.; Teeling, Emma C.

There is a growing body of support to show that bats and viruses form host/virus associations (Daszak 2010; Drexler et al. 2010; Streicker et al. 2010; Ar Gouilh et al. 2011; Drexler et al. 2012; Anthony et al. 2013) . It has been demonstrated that host phylogeny is the primary factor that determines virus persistence and replicative ability in new hosts and perhaps most importantly that knowledge of host phylogeny can predict the source of new emerging diseases (Longdon et al. 2011) . Extrapolating from these phylogenetic associations represents a novel way in which coronavirus diversity can be more efficiently surveyed and assessed. Systematic surveillance for emerging coronaviruses should be orientated based on resolved phylogenies highlighting additional potential reservoir species. The successful detection of novel coronaviruses based on the limited studies conducted on Hipposideridae bats indicate that this family contains candidates in which to search for undescribed coronaviruses (Pfefferle et al. 2009; Quan et al. 2010; Ar Gouilh et al. 2011 ). However, one complicating factor is that the phylogenetic history and the taxonomy of the Hipposideridae remain unresolved. Therefore, deciphering these phylogenetic issues, as proposed, will be instrumental for detecting novel coronaviruses and for "systematically" guiding the surveillance of reservoir hosts to predict the emergence of novel pathogens.