New world bats harbor diverse influenza A viruses

Aquatic birds harbor diverse influenza A viruses and are a major viral reservoir in nature. The recent discovery of influenza viruses of a new H17N10 subtype in Central American fruit bats suggests that other New World species may similarly carry divergent influenza viruses. Using consensus degenera...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS pathogens 2013-10, Vol.9 (10), p.e1003657-e1003657
Main Authors: Tong, Suxiang, Zhu, Xueyong, Li, Yan, Shi, Mang, Zhang, Jing, Bourgeois, Melissa, Yang, Hua, Chen, Xianfeng, Recuenco, Sergio, Gomez, Jorge, Chen, Li-Mei, Johnson, Adam, Tao, Ying, Dreyfus, Cyrille, Yu, Wenli, McBride, Ryan, Carney, Paul J, Gilbert, Amy T, Chang, Jessie, Guo, Zhu, Davis, Charles T, Paulson, James C, Stevens, James, Rupprecht, Charles E, Holmes, Edward C, Wilson, Ian A, Donis, Ruben O
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bats
Chiroptera - virology
Disease control
Disease Reservoirs - virology
Health aspects
Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus - genetics
Host-parasite relationships
Influenza
Influenza A virus - genetics
Influenza viruses
Orthomyxoviridae Infections - epidemiology
Orthomyxoviridae Infections - genetics
Orthomyxoviridae Infections - veterinary
Pandemics
Peru - epidemiology
Phylogeny
Physiological aspects
Studies
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Summary:Aquatic birds harbor diverse influenza A viruses and are a major viral reservoir in nature. The recent discovery of influenza viruses of a new H17N10 subtype in Central American fruit bats suggests that other New World species may similarly carry divergent influenza viruses. Using consensus degenerate RT-PCR, we identified a novel influenza A virus, designated as H18N11, in a flat-faced fruit bat (Artibeus planirostris) from Peru. Serologic studies with the recombinant H18 protein indicated that several Peruvian bat species were infected by this virus. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrate that, in some gene segments, New World bats harbor more influenza virus genetic diversity than all other mammalian and avian species combined, indicative of a long-standing host-virus association. Structural and functional analyses of the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase indicate that sialic acid is not a ligand for virus attachment nor a substrate for release, suggesting a unique mode of influenza A virus attachment and activation of membrane fusion for entry into host cells. Taken together, these findings indicate that bats constitute a potentially important and likely ancient reservoir for a diverse pool of influenza viruses.
ISSN:1553-7374
1553-7366
1553-7374
DOI:10.1371/journal.ppat.1003657