Extensive genetic diversity of bat-borne polyomaviruses reveals inter-family host-switching events

Zhizhou Tan; Gabriel Gonzalez; Jinliang Sheng; Jianmin Wu; Fuqiang Zhang; Lin Xu; Peisheng Zhang; Aiwei Zhu; Yonggang Qu; Changchun Tu; Michael J. Carr; Biao He

While mammalian PyVs are highly host specific [12] there are data suggesting cross-species 392 jumps of PyVs between closely related mammalian hosts. Previously, short-range intra-genus 393 host-switching events of PyVs were identified in African horseshoe bats, occurring between Rh. Another ICTV criterion is the allowable genetic distance of the LTAg coding sequence (≥ 449 15%) to demarcate PyV species. This cut-off value is not strict, as exemplified by two PyVs 450 identified in two different species of squirrel monkeys which shared 89% sequence identity but . CC-BY 4.0 International license is made available under a The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder. It . https://doi.org/10.1101/627158 doi: bioRxiv preprint were recognized as two separated PyV species [36] . In the present study, we have discovered The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder. It . https://doi.org/10.1101/627158 doi: bioRxiv preprint transmitted via dromedary camels, it has been shown to be closely related to several bat