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Discovery of a highly divergent hepadnavirus in shrews from China.

ABSTRACT: Limited sampling means that relatively little is known about the diversity and evolutionary history of mammalian members of the Hepadnaviridae (genus Orthohepadnavirus). An important case in point are shrews, the fourth largest group of mammals, but for which there is limited knowledge on the role they play in viral evolution and emergence. Here, we report the discovery of a novel shrew hepadnavirus. The newly discovered virus, denoted shrew hepatitis B virus (SHBV), is divergent to be considered a new species of Orthohepadnavirus. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that these viruses were usually most closely related to TBHBV (tent-making bat hepatitis B virus), known to be able to infect human hepatocytes, and had a similar genome structure, although SHBV fell in a more basal position in the surface protein phylogeny. In sum, these data suggest that shrews are natural hosts for hepadnaviruses and may have played an important role in their long-term evolution.

SUBMITTER: Nie FY

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7172195 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Discovery of a highly divergent hepadnavirus in shrews from China.

Nie Fang-Yuan FY Tian Jun-Hua JH Lin Xian-Dan XD Yu Bin B Xing Jian-Guang JG Cao Jian-Hai JH Holmes Edward C EC Ma Runlin Z RZ Zhang Yong-Zhen YZ

Virology 20190311

Limited sampling means that relatively little is known about the diversity and evolutionary history of mammalian members of the Hepadnaviridae (genus Orthohepadnavirus). An important case in point are shrews, the fourth largest group of mammals, but for which there is limited knowledge on the role they play in viral evolution and emergence. Here, we report the discovery of a novel shrew hepadnavirus. The newly discovered virus, denoted shrew hepatitis B virus (SHBV), is divergent to be considere ...[more]

PMID: 30884426

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Dataset Information

Discovery of a highly divergent hepadnavirus in shrews from China.

Publications

Discovery of a highly divergent hepadnavirus in shrews from China.

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