Infectious KoRV-related retroviruses circulating in Australian bats

Joshua A Hayward; Mary Tachedjian; Claudia Kohl; Adam Johnson; Megan Dearnley; Brianna Jesaveluk; Christine Langer; Philip D Solymosi; Georg Hille; Andreas Nitsche; Cecilia A Sánchez; Adam Werner; Dimitri Kontos; Gary Crameri; Glenn A Marsh; Michelle L Baker; Pantelis Poumbourios; Heidi E Drummer; Edward C Holmes; Lin-Fa Wang; Ina Smith; Gilda Tachedjian

doi:10.1073/pnas.1915400117

Infectious KoRV-related retroviruses circulating in Australian bats

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Apr 28;117(17):9529-9536. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1915400117. Epub 2020 Apr 13.

Authors

Joshua A Hayward^{1

2}, Mary Tachedjian³, Claudia Kohl⁴, Adam Johnson¹, Megan Dearnley³, Brianna Jesaveluk¹, Christine Langer¹, Philip D Solymosi⁴, Georg Hille⁴, Andreas Nitsche⁴, Cecilia A Sánchez^{3

5

6}, Adam Werner^{1

7}, Dimitri Kontos^{1

2}, Gary Crameri³, Glenn A Marsh³, Michelle L Baker³, Pantelis Poumbourios^{1

2}, Heidi E Drummer^{1

2

8}, Edward C Holmes^{9

10}, Lin-Fa Wang¹¹, Ina Smith³, Gilda Tachedjian^{12

2

8}

Affiliations

¹ Life Sciences, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.
² Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia.
³ Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Health and Biosecurity Business Unit, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia.
⁴ Centre for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens, Robert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
⁵ Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602.
⁶ Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602.
⁷ Department of Microbiology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC 3086, Australia.
⁸ Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.
⁹ School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
¹⁰ Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
¹¹ Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore 169857.
¹² Life Sciences, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia; gildat@burnet.edu.au.

Abstract

Bats are reservoirs of emerging viruses that are highly pathogenic to other mammals, including humans. Despite the diversity and abundance of bat viruses, to date they have not been shown to harbor exogenous retroviruses. Here we report the discovery and characterization of a group of koala retrovirus-related (KoRV-related) gammaretroviruses in Australian and Asian bats. These include the Hervey pteropid gammaretrovirus (HPG), identified in the scat of the Australian black flying fox (Pteropus alecto), which is the first reproduction-competent retrovirus found in bats. HPG is a close relative of KoRV and the gibbon ape leukemia virus (GALV), with virion morphology and Mn²⁺-dependent virion-associated reverse transcriptase activity typical of a gammaretrovirus. In vitro, HPG is capable of infecting bat and human cells, but not mouse cells, and displays a similar pattern of cell tropism as KoRV-A and GALV. Population studies reveal the presence of HPG and KoRV-related sequences in several locations across northeast Australia, as well as serologic evidence for HPG in multiple pteropid bat species, while phylogenetic analysis places these bat viruses as the basal group within the KoRV-related retroviruses. Taken together, these results reveal bats to be important reservoirs of exogenous KoRV-related gammaretroviruses.

Keywords: GALV; KoRV; bats; retroviruses; viruses.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Animals
Australia
Chiroptera / virology*
Disease Reservoirs / veterinary
Disease Reservoirs / virology
Gammaretrovirus / isolation & purification*
Phascolarctidae / virology