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Rabovirus: a proposed new picornavirus genus that is phylogenetically basal to enteroviruses and sapeloviruses

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Abstract

We have sequenced the genome of a novel picornavirus, rabovirus A (rat-borne virus, RaBoV-A, NC_026314), which was present in the feces of a Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) from Berlin, Germany. This virus is related to members of the genera Enterovirus and Sapelovirus. RaboV-A contains a type II IRES that is unlike the type I IRES elements of enteroviruses and the type IV elements of sapeloviruses. Its genome is marked by an L protein and a chymotrypsin-like 2A protease. Our analysis of genome organization, pairwise identities, motif, phylogenic and UTR (GIMPU) indicates that RaBoV-A potentially represents a new picornavirus genus, for which we propose the name “Rabovirus”. Spread by their rodent hosts and detected in New York and Berlin rats, these viruses may have a wide geographic distribution.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Rainer Ulrich (Friedrich Loeffler Institute, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany) for providing the rat sample, and Jaume Jorba for discussion on phylogeny. ELD was supported by NHLBI grant R01 HL105770. GR was supported by a grant from the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA/NKFIH K111615). NJK was supported by core funding provided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council under The Pirbright Institute Livestock Viral Diseases Programme. JS was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through grant SFB852/1.

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Correspondence to Terry Fei Fan Ng.

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Ng, T.F.F., Sachsenröder, J., Reuter, G. et al. Rabovirus: a proposed new picornavirus genus that is phylogenetically basal to enteroviruses and sapeloviruses. Arch Virol 160, 2569–2575 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-015-2523-y

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