Evaluation of Taxonomic Characteristics of Matlo and Phala Bat Rabies-Related Lyssaviruses Identified in South Africa

We report the genetic characterization of two potentially novel rabies-related lyssaviruses identified from bats in Limpopo province, South Africa. Matlo bat lyssavirus (MBLV) was identified in two Miniopterus natalensis (Natal long-fingered) bats in 2015 and 2016, and Phala bat lyssavirus (PBLV) wa...

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Published in:Viruses Vol. 15; no. 10; p. 2047
Main Authors: Viljoen, Natalie, Weyer, Jacqueline, Coertse, Jessica, Markotter, Wanda
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.10.2023
MDPI
Subjects:
Amino acids
bat
Bats
Causes of
Distribution
Genetic aspects
Genomes
Genomics
Geographical distribution
Identification and classification
Infections
Lyssavirus
Miniopterus
molecular characterization
Nucleotide sequence
nucleotide sequences
Phylogenetics
Rabies
Rhabdoviruses
RNA polymerase
South Africa
Surveillance
Taiwan
Viruses
West Asia
South Africa
United Kingdom
Africa
Taiwan
West Asia
ISSN:1999-4915, 1999-4915
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:We report the genetic characterization of two potentially novel rabies-related lyssaviruses identified from bats in Limpopo province, South Africa. Matlo bat lyssavirus (MBLV) was identified in two Miniopterus natalensis (Natal long-fingered) bats in 2015 and 2016, and Phala bat lyssavirus (PBLV) was identified in a Nycticeinops schlieffeni (Schlieffen’s) bat in 2021. The distribution of both of these bat species is largely confined to parts of Africa, with limited reports from the Arabian Peninsula. MBLV and PBLV were demonstrated to group with the unassigned and phylogroup I lyssaviruses, respectively. MBLV was most closely related to Lyssavirus caucasicus (WCBV), whereas PBLV was most closely related to Lyssavirus formosa (TWBLV-1) and Taiwan bat lyssavirus 2 (TWBLV-2), based on analysis of the N and G genes, the concatenated N + P + M + G + L coding sequence, and the complete genome sequence. Based on our analysis, MBLV and WCBV appeared to constitute a phylogroup separate from Lyssavirus lleida (LLEBV) and Lyssavirus ikoma (IKOV). Analysis of the antigenic sites suggests that PBLV will likely be serologically distinguishable from established lyssaviruses in virus-neutralization tests, whereas MBLV appeared to be antigenically highly similar to WCBV. Taken together, the findings suggested that, while PBLV is likely a new lyssavirus species, MBLV is likely related to WCBV.
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ISSN:1999-4915
1999-4915
DOI:10.3390/v15102047