Molecular identification of Betacoronavirus in bats from Sardinia (Italy): first detection and phylogeny.
Bats may be natural reservoirs for a large variety of emerging viruses, including mammalian coronaviruses (CoV). The recent emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in humans, with evidence that these viruses may have their ancestry in bats, highlights the importance of virus surveillance in bat populations. Here, we report the identification and molecular characterization of a bat β-Coronavirus, detected during a viral survey carried out on different bat species in the island of Sardinia (Italy). Cutaneous, oral swabs, and faecal samples were collected from 46 bats, belonging to 15 different species, and tested for viral presence. Coronavirus RNA was detected in faecal samples from three different species: the greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), the brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus), and the European free-tailed bat (Tadarida teniotis). Phylogenetic analyses based on RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) sequences assigned the detected CoV to clade 2b within betacoronaviruses, clustering with SARS-like bat CoVs previously reported. These findings point to the need for continued surveillance of bat CoV circulating in Sardinian bats, and extend the current knowledge on CoV ecology with novel sequences detected in bat species not previously described as β-Coronavirus hosts.
['Lecis|Roberta|R|', 'Mucedda|Mauro|M|', 'Pidinchedda|Ermanno|E|', 'Pittau|Marco|M|', 'Alberti|Alberto|A|']
D000820:Animal Diseases D000818:Animals D000073640:Betacoronavirus D002685:Chiroptera D018352:Coronavirus Infections D019143:Evolution, Molecular D016679:Genome, Viral D058507:Host Specificity D006801:Humans D007558:Italy D010802:Phylogeny D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
Bats Sardinia Coronavirus Rhinolophus ferrumequinum RNA-dependent RNA polymerase