Identification of two novel papillomaviruses in belugas

Youyou Li; Meifang Xiao; Yun Zhang; Zihan Li; Shijie Bai; Haoxiang Su; Ruoyan Peng; Gaoyu Wang; Xiaoyuan Hu; Xinran Song; Xin Li; Chuanning Tang; Gang Lu; Feifei Yin; Peijun Zhang; Jiang Du

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1165839

Identification of two novel papillomaviruses in belugas

Front Microbiol. 2023 Jul 26:14:1165839. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1165839. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Youyou Li^#¹, Meifang Xiao^#², Yun Zhang^#¹, Zihan Li^#¹, Shijie Bai³, Haoxiang Su⁴, Ruoyan Peng¹, Gaoyu Wang¹, Xiaoyuan Hu¹, Xinran Song⁵, Xin Li⁶, Chuanning Tang¹, Gang Lu¹, Feifei Yin^{1

2}, Peijun Zhang³, Jiang Du^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Hainan Medical University-The University of Hong Kong Joint Laboratory of Tropical Infectious Diseases, Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China.
² Department of Clinical Laboratory, Center for Laboratory Medicine, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China.
³ Marine Mammal and Marine Bioacoustics Laboratory, Laboratory of Marine Viruses and Molecular Biology, Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, China.
⁴ National Health Commission, Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
⁵ Dalian Sun Asia Tourism Holding Co., Ltd., Dalian, China.
⁶ Qingdao Polar Haichang Ocean Park, Qingdao, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Introduction: Papillomaviruses (PVs) can cause hyperplasia in the skin and mucous membranes of humans, mammals, and non-mammalian animals, and are a significant risk factor for cervical and genital cancers.

Methods: Using next-generation sequencing (NGS), we identified two novel strains of papillomavirus, PV-HMU-1 and PV-HMU-2, in swabs taken from belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) at Polar Ocean Parks in Qingdao and Dalian.

Results: We amplified the complete genomes of both strains and screened ten belugas and one false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) for the late gene (L1) to determine the infection rate. In Qingdao, 50% of the two sampled belugas were infected with PV-HMU-1, while the false killer whale was negative. In Dalian, 71% of the eight sampled belugas were infected with PV-HMU-2. In their L1 genes, PV-HMU-1 and PV-HMU-2 showed 64.99 and 68.12% amino acid identity, respectively, with other members of Papillomaviridae. Phylogenetic analysis of combinatorial amino acid sequences revealed that PV-HMU-1 and PV-HMU-2 clustered with other known dolphin PVs but formed distinct branches. PVs carried by belugas were proposed as novel species under Firstpapillomavirinae.

Conclusion: The discovery of these two novel PVs enhances our understanding of the genetic diversity of papillomaviruses and their impact on the beluga population.

Keywords: beluga whale; diversity; evolution; next-generation sequencing; novel PVs.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32060015), the National Key R&D Program of China (grant No. 2022YFE0210300), the Key Research and Development Plan of Hainan Province (Nos. ZDYF2020150 and ZDYF2022SHFZ085), the CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (CIFMS) (grant No. 2021-I2M-1-039), the Major Science and Technology Program of Hainan Province (No. ZDKJ202003), the Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 820RC628 and 823RC598), the Research Project of the Hainan Academician Innovation Platform (No. YSPTZX202004), the Hainan Talent Development Project (No. SRC200003), and the Graduate student innovation grant of Hainan Medical University (Nos. HYYS2020-33, Hys2020-360, Hys2020-376, and Qhys2021-356).