Retrieval of the Complete Coding Sequence of the UK-Endemic Tatenale Orthohantavirus Reveals Extensive Strain Variation and Supports Its Classification as a Novel Species

Chappell, Joseph G.; Tsoleridis, Theocharis; Onianwa, Okechukwu; Drake, Gabby; Ashpole, Ian; Dobbs, Phillipa; Edema, William; Kumi-Ansah, Frederick; Bennett, Malcolm; Tarlinton, Rachael E.; Ball, Jonathan K.; McClure, C. Patrick

Abstract

©2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Orthohantaviruses are globally distributed viruses, associated with rodents and other small mammals. However, data on the circulation of orthohantaviruses within the UK, particularly the UK-endemic Tatenale virus, is sparse. In this study, 531 animals from five rodent species were collected from two locations in northern and central England and screened using a degenerate, pan- orthohantavirus RT-PCR assay. Tatenale virus was detected in a single field vole (Microtus agrestis) from central England and twelve field voles from northern England. Unbiased high-throughput sequencing of the central English strain resulted in the recovery of the complete coding sequence of a novel strain of Tatenale virus, whilst PCR-primer walking of the northern English strain recovered almost complete coding sequence of a previously identified strain. These findings represented the detection of a third lineage of Tatenale virus in the United Kingdom and extended the known geographic distribution of these viruses from northern to central England. Furthermore, the recovery of the complete coding sequence revealed that Tatenale virus was sufficiently related to the recently identified Traemersee virus, to meet the accepted criteria for classification as a single species of orthohantavirus.

Citation

Chappell, J. G., Tsoleridis, T., Onianwa, O., Drake, G., Ashpole, I., Dobbs, P., …McClure, C. P. (2020). Retrieval of the Complete Coding Sequence of the UK-Endemic Tatenale Orthohantavirus Reveals Extensive Strain Variation and Supports Its Classification as a Novel Species. Viruses, 12(4), Article 454. https://doi.org/10.3390/v12040454

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 13, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Apr 17, 2020
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Apr 22, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 22, 2020
• Journal: Viruses
• Electronic ISSN: 1999-4915
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: 454
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/v12040454
• Keywords: orthohantavirus; hantavirus; high-throughput sequencing; virus discovery; field vole; virology; infectious diseases
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4326924
• Publisher URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/12/4/454