Fish polyomaviruses belong to two distinct evolutionary lineages.

• Published in: Journal of General Virology
• Main Authors: Van Doorslaer K, Kraberger S, Austin C, Farkas K, Bergeman M, Paunil E, Davison W, Varsani A
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Polyomaviridae; Antarctica; emerald notothen; Trematomus bernacchii; Fields of Research::31 - Biological sciences::3107 - Microbiology::310706 - Virology; Fields of Research::31 - Biological sciences::3104 - Evolutionary biology::310410 - Phylogeny and comparative analysis; Ross Sea; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10092/16229; 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.