Cytomegalovirus distribution and evolution in hominines

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Sripriya Murthy, Robert Koch Institute; Kathryn O'Brien, University of Plymouth; Anthony Agbor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Samuel Angedakin, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Mimi Arandjelovic, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Emmanuel Ayuk Ayimisin, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Emma Bailey, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Richard A Bergl, North Carolina Zoological Park; Gregory Brazzola, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Paula Dieguez, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Manasseh Eno-Nku, World Wildlife Fund; Henk Eshuis, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Barbara Fruth, Liverpool John Moores University; Thomas R. Gillespie, Emory University; Yisa Ginath, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Maryke Gray, International Gorilla Conservation Programme; Ilka Herbinger, World Wildlife Fund; Sorrel Jones, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Laura Kehoe, Wildlife Conservation Society; Hjalmar Kuhl, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-07-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP): Policy C - Option B
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: Copyright © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ve/vez015
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Virus Evolution
• ISSN: 2057-1577
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: vez015
• End Page: vez015
• Grant/Funding Information: Funding for the PanAf was generously provided by the Max Planck Society Innovation Fund; and Heinz L. Krekeler Foundation.
• Keywords: hominine; SELECTION; REPLICATION; host switch; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; dsDNA virus; PHYLOGENIES; SEQUENCE ALIGNMENT; IDENTIFICATION; Science & Technology; codivergence; TRANSMISSION; Virology; INFECTION; ORIGINS; cytomegalovirus; ACCURACY; B-VIRUS
• Research Categories: Biology, Virology; Environmental Sciences

Abstract

Herpesviruses are thought to have evolved in very close association with their hosts. This is notably the case for cytomegaloviruses (CMVs; genus Cytomegalovirus) infecting primates, which exhibit a strong signal of co-divergence with their hosts. Some herpesviruses are however known to have crossed species barriers. Based on a limited sampling of CMV diversity in the hominine (African great ape and human) lineage, we hypothesized that chimpanzees and gorillas might have mutually exchanged CMVs in the past. Here, we performed a comprehensive molecular screening of all 9 African great ape species/subspecies, using 675 fecal samples collected from wild animals. We identified CMVs in eight species/subspecies, notably generating the first CMV sequences from bonobos. We used this extended dataset to test competing hypotheses with various degrees of co-divergence/number of host switches while simultaneously estimating the dates of these events in a Bayesian framework. The model best supported by the data involved the transmission of a gorilla CMV to the panine (chimpanzee and bonobo) lineage and the transmission of a panine CMV to the gorilla lineage prior to the divergence of chimpanzees and bonobos, more than 800,000 years ago. Panine CMVs then co-diverged with their hosts. These results add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that viruses with a double-stranded DNA genome (including other herpesviruses, adenoviruses, and papillomaviruses) often jumped between hominine lineages over the last few million years.