Fish polyomaviruses belong to two distinct evolutionary lineages

• Published in: Journal of General Virology
• Main Authors: Van Doorslaer, Koenraad, Kraberger, Simona, Austin, Charlotte, Farkas, Kata, Bergeman, Melissa, Paunil, Emma, Davison, William, Varsani, Arvind
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Microbiology Society 2018
• Subjects: Research Article; Ross Sea; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5982132/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29517483; https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.001041

The Polyomaviridae is a diverse family of circular double-stranded DNA viruses. Polyomaviruses have been isolated from a wide array of animal hosts. An understanding of the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of these viruses is essential to understanding the pathogenicity of polyomaviruses. Using a high throughput sequencing approach, we identified a novel polyomavirus in an emerald notothen (Trematomus bernacchii) sampled in the Ross sea (Antarctica), expanding the known number of fish-associated polyomaviruses. Our analysis suggests that polyomaviruses belong to three main evolutionary clades; the first clade is made up of all recognized terrestrial polyomaviruses. The fish-associated polyomaviruses are not monophyletic, and belong to two divergent evolutionary lineages. The fish viruses provide evidence that the evolution of the key viral large T protein involves gain and loss of distinct domains.