New Insights into Lymphocystis Disease Virus Genome Diversity

• Published in: Viruses
• Main Authors: Jessica Benkaroun, Sven M. Bergmann, Angela Römer-Oberdörfer, Menekse Didem Demircan, Cüneyt Tamer, Gayatri Rajendra Kachh, Manfred Weidmann
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2022
• Subjects: lymphocystis disease virus; LCDV1; whole genome; nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus; demersal fish; Microbiology; QR1-502; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/v14122741; https://doaj.org/article/5b7178613f904bea9a724fb8065c53bb

Lymphocystis disease viruses (LCDVs) are viruses that infect bony fish which has been found in different locations across the globe. Four virus species have been classified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), despite remarkable discrepancies in genome size. Whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of LCDVs from wild fish from the North Sea and partial sequences from gilthead sea bream of an aquafarm located in the Aegean Sea in Turkey confirm that the LCDV1 genome at 100 kb is approximately half the size of the genomes of LCDV2-4. Since the fish species, of which LCDV1 was isolated, differ taxonomically at the order level, co-speciation can be excluded as the driver of the adaptation of the genome of this nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus, but may represent an adaptation to the lifestyle of this demersal fish in the northeast Atlantic.