The Glycoproteins of All Filovirus Species Use the Same Host Factors for Entry into Bat and Human Cells but Entry Efficiency Is Species Dependent

Hoffmann, Markus; González Hernández, Mariana; Berger, Elisabeth; Marzi, Andrea; Pöhlmann, Stefan

As cells representing the natural reservoir of filoviruses we chose cell lines established from the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus; RoNi/7), the hammer-headed flying fox (Hypsignathus monstrosus; HypNi/1.1), the straw-colored fruit bat (Eidolon helvum; EidNi/41) and Buettikofer's epauletted fruit bat (Epomops buettikoferi; EpoNi/22.1) ( Table 1 ). Those fruit bat species are either a proven filovirus reservoir (Rousettus aegyptiacus for MARV) or are in the discussion as one (Hypsignathus monstrosus for MARV and EBOV, Eidolon helvum for EBOV) [14, 55] . Since it was not possible to obtain a cell line from Franquet's epauletted fruit bat (Epomops franqueti), another species of fruit bat linked to filoviruses (MARV and EBOV) [55] , we instead used a cell line from a closely related species (Epomops buettikoferi). The overall geographic distribution of the four fruit bat species ranges from rather concentrated habitats at the southern coast of West Africa (Epomops buettikoferi) to a nearly complete coverage of the area between Sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa (Fig 1C) [56] , and overlaps with sites of reported filovirus outbreaks in humans.