Discovery of herpesviruses in bats

Abstract

Seven novel gammaherpesviruses (GHV) and one novel betaherpesvirus were discovered in seven different European bat species (order Chiroptera, family Vespertilionidae) with a pan-herpesvirus PCR assay, targeting the DNA polymerase (DPOL) gene. The sequences of six bat GHV were similarly related to members of the gammaherpesvirus genera Percavirus and Rhadinovirus. The seventh GHV was related to the porcine lymphotropic herpesvirus 1 (genus Macavirus). The betaherpesvirus appeared to be a distant relative of human cytomegalovirus. For three bat GHV a 3.6 kbp locus was amplified and sequenced, spanning part of the glycoprotein B gene and the majority of the DPOL gene. In phylogenetic analysis, the three bat GHV formed a separate clade with similar distance to the Percavirus and Rhadinovirus clades. These novel viruses are the first herpesviruses to be described in bats.