Cross-Hemispheric Genetic Diversity and Spatial Genetic Structure of Callinectes sapidus Reovirus 1 (CsRV1)

Mingli Zhao; Louis V Plough; Donald C Behringer; Jamie Bojko; Andrew S Kough; Nathaniel W Alper; Lan Xu; Eric J Schott

doi:10.3390/v15020563

Cross-Hemispheric Genetic Diversity and Spatial Genetic Structure of Callinectes sapidus Reovirus 1 (CsRV1)

Viruses. 2023 Feb 18;15(2):563. doi: 10.3390/v15020563.

Authors

Mingli Zhao^{1

2}, Louis V Plough³, Donald C Behringer^{4

5}, Jamie Bojko⁶, Andrew S Kough⁷, Nathaniel W Alper⁸, Lan Xu⁹, Eric J Schott¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA.
² Department of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, London AL9 7TA, UK.
³ Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Cambridge, MD 21613, USA.
⁴ Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32653, USA.
⁵ Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA.
⁶ School of Health and Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough TS1 3BA, UK.
⁷ John G. Shedd Aquarium, Haerther Center for Conservation Research, Chicago, IL 60605, USA.
⁸ Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 20027, USA.
⁹ Department of Marine Biotechnology and Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA.
¹⁰ Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA.

Abstract

The movement of viruses in aquatic systems is rarely studied over large geographic scales. Oceanic currents, host migration, latitude-based variation in climate, and resulting changes in host life history are all potential drivers of virus connectivity, adaptation, and genetic structure. To expand our understanding of the genetic diversity of Callinectes sapidus reovirus 1 (CsRV1) across a broad spatial and host life history range of its blue crab host (Callinectes sapidus), we obtained 22 complete and 96 partial genomic sequences for CsRV1 strains from the US Atlantic coast, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and the Atlantic coast of South America. Phylogenetic analyses of CsRV1 genomes revealed that virus genotypes were divided into four major genogroups consistent with their host geographic origins. However, some CsRV1 sequences from the US mid-Atlantic shared high genetic similarity with the Gulf of Mexico genotypes, suggesting potential human-mediated movement of CsRV1 between the US mid-Atlantic and Gulf coasts. This study advances our understanding of how climate, coastal geography, host life history, and human activity drive patterns of genetic structure and diversity of viruses in marine animals and contributes to the capacity to infer broadscale host population connectivity in marine ecosystems from virus population genetic data.

Keywords: RNA virus; anthropogenic movement; climate; geography; host life history; phylogenetic.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Brachyura*
Ecosystem
Genetic Structures
Genetic Variation
Humans
Orthoreovirus, Mammalian*
Phylogeny
Reoviridae*

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the NSF Division of Ocean Sciences-Biological Oceanography awards 1658466 (ES) and 1658396 (DB). M.Z. and L.X. were supported by awards from the China Scholarship Council and graduate student funding from the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology. EJS was supported in part by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (EPP/MSI) Award #NA16SEC4810007.