Decoding the virome reveals diverse novel viruses in tree shrews (<i>Tupaia belangeri</i>) in Yunnan Province

Zhong-Hao Lian; Zhi You; Pei-Yu Han; Ye Qiu; Yun-Zhi Zhang; Xing-Yi Ge

doi:10.1016/j.virs.2025.05.011

June 2025

. doi: 10.1016/j.virs.2025.05.011

Citation: Zhong-Hao Lian, Zhi You, Pei-Yu Han, Ye Qiu, Yun-Zhi Zhang, Xing-Yi Ge. Decoding the virome reveals diverse novel viruses in tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri) in Yunnan Province .VIROLOGICA SINICA, 2025, 40(3) : 314-323. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.virs.2025.05.011

解码病毒组揭示了云南树鼩中的多种新型病毒

练仲豪 ^a ,
尤陟 ^a ,
韩培钰 ^b ,
邱烨 ^a,, ,
张云智 ^b,, ,
葛行义 ^a,,

a 湖南大学生物学院;
b 大理大学公共卫生学院

通讯作者： 邱烨, qiuye@hnu.edu.cn; 张云智, zhangyunzhi1818@163.com; 葛行义, xyge@hnu.edu.cn
收稿日期： 2025-01-18
录用日期： 2025-05-29

摘要

在小型哺乳动物中传播的病毒具有感染人类的潜在风险。树鼩是一种广泛栖息于森林和种植园中的小型哺乳动物，但针对树鼩携带病毒的研究目前仍相当有限。本文采用病毒宏基因组测序方法，对云南省76只树鼩的组织和拭子样本中的病毒进行检测，一共鉴定出属于18个病毒科的基因组片段，其中13个科的病毒能够感染哺乳动物。通过PCR和桑格测序，本研究鉴定了共12个树鼩病毒的全基因序列，包括5个细小病毒、3个树鼩圆环病毒、2个树鼩腺病毒、1个树鼩肺炎病毒和1个树鼩肝炎病毒；还鉴定出3个病毒的部分基因，包括2个树鼩戊型肝炎病毒和1个树鼩副粘病毒。值得注意的是，三种树鼩圆环病毒，分别命名为TSTTV-HNU1、TSTTV-HNU2和TSTTV-HNU3，可能构成了一个指环病毒科的新属。此外，树鼩细小病毒TSParvoV-HNU5可能来源于两种鼠源病毒的重组。分化时间估算进一步揭示了树鼩肺炎病毒TSPenV-HNU1潜在的跨物种传播史。本研究提供了对野生树鼩病毒多样性的全面探索，显著深化了我们对树鼩作为病毒天然宿主角色的认知。
- 树鼩
- , 野生动物病毒组
- , 哺乳动物病毒
- , 病毒重组
- , 病毒跨物种传播

Decoding the virome reveals diverse novel viruses in tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri) in Yunnan Province

Zhong-Hao Lian ^a ,
Zhi You ^a ,
Pei-Yu Han ^b ,
Ye Qiu ^a,, ,
Yun-Zhi Zhang ^b,, ,
Xing-Yi Ge ^a,,

a. Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Virology, Hunan Research Center of the Basic Discipline for Cell Signaling, College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410012, China;
b. Institute of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Dali University, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Screening and Research on Anti-pathogenic Plant Resources from Western Yunnan, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Zoonotic Disease Cross-border Prevention and Quarantine, Dali, 671000, China

Corresponding author: Ye Qiu, qiuye@hnu.edu.cn Yun-Zhi Zhang, zhangyunzhi1818@163.com Xing-Yi Ge, xyge@hnu.edu.cn
Received Date: 18 January 2025
Accepted Date: 29 May 2025

Abstract

Viruses circulating in small mammals possess the potential to infect humans. Tree shrews are a group of small mammals inhabiting widely in forests and plantations, but studies on viruses in tree shrews are quite limited. Herein, viral metagenomic sequencing was employed to detect the virome in the tissue and swab samples from seventy-six tree shrews that we collected in Yunnan Province. As the results, genomic fragments belonging to eighteen viral families were identified, thirteen of which contain mammalian viruses. Through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Sanger sequencing, twelve complete genomes were determined, including five parvoviruses, three torque teno viruses (TTVs), two adenoviruses, one pneumovirus, and one hepacivirus, together with three partial genomes, including two hepatitis E viruses and one paramyxovirus. Notably, the three TTVs, named TSTTV-HNU1, TSTTV-HNU2, and TSTTV-HNU3, may compose a new genus within the family Anelloviridae. Notably, TSParvoV-HNU5, one of the tree shrew parvoviruses detected, was likely to be a recombination of two murine viruses. Divergence time estimation further revealed the potential cross-species-transmission history of the tree shrew pneumovirus TSPneV-HNU1. Our study provides a comprehensive exploration of viral diversity in wild tree shrews, significantly enhancing our understanding of their roles as natural virus reservoirs.
- Tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri)
- , Wildlife virome
- , Mammalian virus
- , Viral recombination
- , Cross-species transmission

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