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A novel statovirus identified in fecal samples from wild geladas in the Ethiopian highlands

  • India A. Schneider-Crease
  • , Kenneth L. Chiou
  • , Isabella L. Moya
  • , Alemayehu Lemma
  • , Ferewihot Ayele
  • , Abebaw Azanaw Haile
  • , Fanuel Kebede
  • , Belayneh Abebe
  • , Thore J. Bergman
  • , Jacinta C. Beehner
  • , Amy Lu
  • , Michael C. Lund
  • , Joy M. Custer
  • , Simona Kraberger
  • , Noah Snyder-Mackler
  • , Arvind Varsani
  • Arizona State University
  • Addis Ababa University
  • Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority
  • African Wildlife Foundation
  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • University of Cape Town

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present a novel statovirus in geladas (Theropithecus gelada), graminivorous primates endemic to the Ethiopian highlands. Using a high-throughput sequencing approach, we identified contiguous sequences in feces from two adult female geladas in the Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia, that share similarities to statoviruses. Our phylogenetic analysis of the whole genome, as well as the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and capsid protein (CP) amino acid sequences, revealed that the gelada statoviruses cluster with those from other primates (laboratory populations of Macaca nemestrina and Macaca mulatta). As the first report of statovirus in wild primates, this finding contributes to our understanding of the phylogenetic and geographic distribution of statoviruses and their hosts.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2709-2713
Number of pages5
JournalArchives of Virology
Volume167
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2022

Keywords

  • Ethiopia
  • Geladas
  • Nonhuman primates
  • Statovirus
  • Theropithecus gelada

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