Nippert, Sina; Rubbenstroth, Dennis; Geers, Jessica Anna; Ebinger, Arnt; Hoffmann, Donata; Breithaupt, Angele; Wylezich, Claudia; Wang, Xuejing; Haring, Viola C; Starcky, Philip; Fruci, Paola; Langner, Christoph; Trapp, Christin; Schulz, Heiko; Stubbe, Wilko; Imholt, Christian; Heckel, Gerald; Beer, Martin; Pfaff, Florian and Ulrich, Rainer G (2023). Continuous presence of genetically diverse rustrela virus lineages in yellow-necked field mouse reservoir populations in northeastern Germany. Virus evolution, 9(2), pp. 1-13. Oxford University Press 10.1093/ve/vead048
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Rustrela virus (RusV; species Rubivirus strelense, family Matonaviridae) was discovered in different zoo animal species affected by fatal encephalitis. Simultaneous RusV RNA detection in multiple yellow-necked field mice (Apodemus flavicollis) suggested this rodent as a reservoir of RusV. Here, we investigated 1,264 yellow-necked field mice and sympatric other small mammals from different regions in Germany for RusV RNA using an optimized reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) protocol and high-throughput sequencing. The investigation resulted in the detection of RusV RNA exclusively in 50 of 396 (12.6 per cent) yellow-necked field mice but absence in other sympatric species. RT-qPCR-determined tissue distribution of RusV RNA revealed the highest viral loads in the central nervous system, with other tissues being only very rarely affected. The histopathological evaluation did not reveal any hints of encephalitis in the brains of infected animals despite the detection of viral RNA in neurons by in situ hybridization (ISH). The positive association between the body mass of yellow-necked field mice and RusV RNA detection suggests a persistent infection. Phylogenetic analysis of partial E1 and full-genome sequences showed a high diversification with at least four RusV lineages (1A-1D) in northeastern Germany. Moreover, phylogenetic and isolation-by-distance analyses indicated evolutionary processes of RusV mostly in local reservoir populations. A comparison of complete genome sequences from all detected RusV lineages demonstrated a high level of amino acid and nucleotide sequence variability within a part of the p150 peptide of the non-structural polyprotein and its coding sequence, respectively. The location of this region within the RusV genome and its genetic properties were comparable to the hypervariable region of the rubella virus. The broad range of detected RusV spillover hosts in combination with its geographical distribution in northeastern Germany requires the assessment of its zoonotic potential and further analysis of encephalitis cases in mammals. Future studies have to prove a putative co-evolution scenario for RusV in the yellow-necked field mouse reservoir.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
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Division/Institute: |
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) |
UniBE Contributor: |
Wang, Xuejing, Heckel, Gerald |
Subjects: |
500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology |
ISSN: |
2057-1577 |
Publisher: |
Oxford University Press |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Pubmed Import |
Date Deposited: |
26 Sep 2023 10:46 |
Last Modified: |
26 Sep 2023 10:55 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1093/ve/vead048 |
PubMed ID: |
37744713 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Apodemus flavicollis Matonaviridae range reservoir host sequence variation yellow-necked field mouse |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/186569 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/186569 |
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