Dataset Information

Viral gut metagenomics of sympatric wild and domestic canids, and monitoring of viruses: Insights from an endangered wolf population.

ABSTRACT: Animal host-microbe interactions are a relevant concern for wildlife conservation, particularly regarding generalist pathogens, where domestic host species can play a role in the transmission of infectious agents, such as viruses, to wild animals. Knowledge on viral circulation in wild host species is still scarce and can be improved by the recent advent of modern molecular approaches. We aimed to characterize the fecal virome and identify viruses of potential conservation relevance of diarrheic free-ranging wolves and sympatric domestic dogs from Central Portugal, where a small and threatened wolf population persists in a highly anthropogenically modified landscape. Using viral metagenomics, we screened diarrheic stools collected from wolves (n = 8), feral dogs (n = 4), and pet dogs (n = 6), all collected within wolf range. We detected novel highly divergent viruses as well as known viral pathogens with established effects on population dynamics, including canine distemper virus, a novel bocavirus, and canine minute virus. Furthermore, we performed a 4-year survey for the six wolf packs comprising this endangered wolf population, screening 93 fecal samples from 36 genetically identified wolves for canine distemper virus and the novel bocavirus, previously identified using our metagenomics approach. Our novel approach using metagenomics for viral screening in noninvasive samples of wolves and dogs has profound implications on the knowledge of both virology and wildlife diseases, establishing a complementary tool to traditional screening methods for the conservation of threatened species.

SUBMITTER: Conceicao-Neto N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5478050 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Viral gut metagenomics of sympatric wild and domestic canids, and monitoring of viruses: Insights from an endangered wolf population.

Conceição-Neto Nádia N Godinho Raquel R Álvares Francisco F Yinda Claude K CK Deboutte Ward W Zeller Mark M Laenen Lies L Heylen Elisabeth E Roque Sara S Petrucci-Fonseca Francisco F Santos Nuno N Van Ranst Marc M Mesquita João R JR Matthijnssens Jelle J

Ecology and evolution 20170427 12

Animal host-microbe interactions are a relevant concern for wildlife conservation, particularly regarding generalist pathogens, where domestic host species can play a role in the transmission of infectious agents, such as viruses, to wild animals. Knowledge on viral circulation in wild host species is still scarce and can be improved by the recent advent of modern molecular approaches. We aimed to characterize the fecal virome and identify viruses of potential conservation relevance of diarrheic ...[more]

PMID: 28649326

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Project description:BackgroundCortical folding is related to the functional organization of the brain. The TMF-1 regulated protein (TRNP1) regulates the expansion and folding of the mammalian cerebral cortex, a process that may have been accelerated by the domestication of dogs. The objectives of this study were to sequence the TRNP1 gene in dogs and related canid species, provide evidence of its expression in dog brain and compare the genetic variation within dogs and across the Canidae. The gene was located in silico to dog chromosome 2. The sequence was experimentally confirmed by amplifying and sequencing the TRNP1 exonic and promoter regions in 72 canids (36 purebred dogs, 20 Gy wolves and wolf-dog hybrids, 10 coyotes, 5 red foxes and 1 Gy fox).ResultsA partial TRNP1 transcript was isolated from several regions in the dog brain. Thirty genetic polymorphisms were found in the Canis sp. with 17 common to both dogs and wolves, and only one unique to dogs. Seven polymorphisms were observed only in coyotes. An additional 9 variants were seen in red foxes. Dogs were the least genetically diverse. Several polymorphisms in the promoter and 3'untranslated region were predicted to alter TRNP1 function by interfering with the binding of transcriptional repressors and miRNAs expressed in neural precursors. A c.259_264 deletion variant that encodes a polyalanine expansion was polymorphic in all species studied except for dogs. A stretch of 15 nucleotides that is found in other mammalian sequences (corresponding to 5 amino acids located between Pro58 and Ala59 in the putative dog protein) was absent from the TRNP1 sequences of all 5 canid species sequenced. Both of these aforementioned coding sequence variations were predicted to affect the formation of alpha helices in the disordered region of the TRNP1 protein.ConclusionsPotentially functionally important polymorphisms in the TRNP1 gene are found within and across various Canis species as well as the red fox, and unique differences in protein structure have evolved and been conserved in the Canidae compared to all other mammalian species.

Dataset Information

Viral gut metagenomics of sympatric wild and domestic canids, and monitoring of viruses: Insights from an endangered wolf population.

Publications

Viral gut metagenomics of sympatric wild and domestic canids, and monitoring of viruses: Insights from an endangered wolf population.

Similar Datasets

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