Identification of novel cetacean poxviruses in cetaceans stranded in south west England

Barnett, J., Dastjerdi, A., Davison, N. , Deaville, R., Everest, D., Peake, J., Finnegan, C., Jepson, P. and Steinbach, F. (2015) Identification of novel cetacean poxviruses in cetaceans stranded in south west England. PLoS ONE, 10(6), e0124315. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0124315) (PMID:26046847) (PMCID:PMC4457422)

Abstract

Poxvirus infections in marine mammals have been mainly reported through their clinical lesions and electron microscopy (EM). Poxvirus particles in association with such lesions have been demonstrated by EM and were previously classified as two new viruses, cetacean poxvirus 1 (CePV-1) and cetacean poxvirus 2 (CePV-2). In this study, epidermal pox lesions in cetaceans stranded in South West England (Cornwall) between 2008 and 2012 were investigated by electron microscopy and molecular analysis. PCR and sequencing of a highly conserved region within the viral DNA polymerase gene ruled out both parapox- and orthopoxviruses. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis of the PCR product clustered the sequences with those previously described as cetacean poxviruses. However, taking the close genetic distance of this gene fragment across the family of poxviridae into account, it is reasonable to postulate further, novel cetacean poxvirus species. The nucleotide similarity within each cluster (tentative species) detected ranged from 98.6% to 100%, whilst the similarity between the clusters was no more than 95%. The detection of several species of poxvirus in different cetacean species confirms the likelihood of a heterogeneous cetacean poxvirus genus, comparable to the heterogeneity observed in other poxvirus genera.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funding: Post-mortem investigations were carried out under the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, which is funded by Defra, UK and the Devolved Administrations in Scotland and Wales. The molecular analysis was supported by Defra grant SE0537. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Davison, Mr Nick
• Authors: Barnett, J., Dastjerdi, A., Davison, N., Deaville, R., Everest, D., Peake, J., Finnegan, C., Jepson, P., and Steinbach, F.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: PLoS ONE
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• ISSN (Online): 1932-6203
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2015 Barnett et al.
• First Published: First published in PLoS ONE 10(6):e0124315
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license