Identification and characterization of a polyomavirus in the thornback skate (Raja clavata)

Abrantes, Joana; Varsani, Arvind; Pereira, Paulo; Maia, Catarina; Farias, Inês; Veríssimo, Ana; Neves, Fabiana

Identification and characterization of a polyomavirus in the thornback skate (Raja clavata)

Journal Article

2023-08-24

Journal Title

Virology Journal

Link to Journal

https://virologyj.biomedcentral.com/

Publisher

BioMed Central

Department

Integrative Biomedical Sciences

Faculty

Health Sciences

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Abstract

Abstract Members of the family Polyomaviridae have a circular double-stranded DNA genome that have been identified in various hosts ranging from mammals to arachnids. Here we report the identification and analysis of a complete genome sequence of a novel polyomavirus, Raja clavata polyomavirus (RcPyV1), from a cartilaginous fish, the thornback skate (Raja clavata). The genome sequence was determined using a metagenomics approach with an aim to provide baseline viral data in cartilaginous fish in different ecosystems. The RcPyV1 genome (4,195 nucleotides) had typical organization of polyomavirus, including early antigens (small T; Large T) encoded on one strand and late viral proteins (VP1; VP2) on the complementary strand. Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic analysis of the large T-antigen revealed that RcPyV1 clusters with a polyomavirus obtained from another cartilaginous fish, the guitarfish polyomavirus 1 (GfPyV1). These two share ~ 56% pairwise identity in LT and VP1 protein sequences. These analyses support the hypothesis that cartilaginous fishes have a specific lineage of polyomaviruses.