๐ Molecular identification of Betacoronavirus in bats from Sardinia (Italy): first detection and phylogeny
ยฉ 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. Bats may be natural reservoirs for a large variety of emerging viruses, including mammalian coronaviruses (CoV). The recent emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in humans, with evidence that these viruses may have their ancestry in bats, highlights the importance of virus surveillance in bat populations. Here, we report the identification and molecular characterization of a bat ฮฒ-Coronavirus, detected during a viral survey carried out on different bat species in the island of Sardinia (Italy). Cutaneous, oral swabs, and faecal samples were collected from 46 bats, belonging to 15 different species, and tested for viral presence. Coronavirus RNA was detected in faecal samples from three different species: the greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), the brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus), and the European free-tailed bat (Tadarida teniotis). Phylogenetic analyses based on RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (Rd. Rp) sequences assigned the detected CoV to clade 2b within betacoronaviruses, clustering with SARS-like bat Co. Vs previously reported. These findings point to the need for continued surveillance of bat CoV circulating in Sardinian bats, and extend the current knowledge on CoV ecology with novel sequences detected in bat species not previously described as ฮฒ-Coronavirus hosts.
keywords
๐ severe acute (1373)
๐ syndrome coronavirus (1074)
๐ previously described (38)
๐ respiratory syndrome-associated (90)
๐ faecal samples (44)
๐ respiratory syndrome (2004)
๐ acute respiratory (1734)
๐ syndrome-associated coronavirus (88)
๐ previously reported (79)
author
๐ค Lecis, Roberta
๐ค Mucedda, Mauro
๐ค Pidinchedda, Ermanno
๐ค Pittau, Marco
๐ค Alberti, Alberto
year
โฐ 2019
journal
๐ Virus Genes
issn
๐ 1572994X 09208569
volume
55
number
1
page
60-67
citedbycount
1
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