Mastomys natalensis-borne mammarenaviruses appear specific to subspecific M. natalensis taxa rather than to the whole species. Yet mammarenaviruses carried by M. natalensis are known to spill over and jump hosts in northern sub-Saharan Africa. Phylogeographic studies increasingly show that, like M. natalensis, small mammals in sub-Saharan Africa are often genetically structured into several subspecific taxa. Other mammarenaviruses may thus also form virus-subspecific host taxon associations. To investigate this, and if mammarenaviruses carried by M. natalensis in southern Africa are less prone to spill-over, we screened 1225 non-M. natalensis samples from Tanzania where many small mammal taxa meet. We found mammarenavirus RNA in 6 samples. Genetic/genomic characterisation confirmed they were not spill-over from M. natalensis. We detected host jumps among rodent tribe members and an association between mammarenaviruses and subspecific taxa of Mus minutoides and Grammomys surdaster, indicating host genetic structure may be crucial to understand virus distribution and host specificity.
- Klíčová slova
- Berega virus, Comparative phylogeography, Grammomys surdaster, Host genetic structure, Host jump, Host specificity, Mus minutoides, Ngerengere virus, Songea virus, Spill-over,
- MeSH
- Arenaviridae * genetika MeSH
- fylogeografie MeSH
- hostitelská specificita MeSH
- Murinae MeSH
- nemoci hlodavců * MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Tanzanie MeSH
Mastomys natalensis is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa and hosts several arenavirus species, including the pathogenic zoonotic Lassa virus in West Africa. Mitochondrial lineages sub-divide the range of M. natalensis and have been associated with cryptic structure within the species. To test specificity of arenaviruses to hosts carrying these lineages, we screened 1772 M. natalensis in a large area of Tanzania where three mitochondrial lineages meet. We detected fifty-two individuals that were positive for one of three arenaviruses: Gairo, Morogoro, and Luna virus. This is the first record of Luna virus in Tanzania. We confirmed the specificity of each arenavirus to a distinct host mitochondrial lineage except for three cases in one locality at the centre of a host hybrid zone. No arenaviruses were detected in a large part of the study area. Morogoro and Gairo virus showed differences in prevalence (Morogoro virus lower than Gairo virus) and in genetic structure (Morogoro virus more structured than Gairo virus). However, both viruses have genetic neighbourhood size estimates of the same order of magnitude as Lassa virus. While differences in arenavirus and/or host evolutionary and ecological dynamics may exist, Tanzanian arenaviruses could be suited to model Lassa virus dynamics in M. natalensis.
- Klíčová slova
- Gairo mammarenavirus, Luna mammarenavirus, Morogoro mammarenavirus, arenavirus host specificity, regional prevalence differences, spatial genetic structure,
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
