Adenoviral Diversity and Possible Host Jumps in a Colony of South American Fur Seals (Arctophoca australis) and Humboldt Penguins (Spheniscus humboldti)
Abstract
Adenoviruses are found in diverse vertebrates, with high level of host fidelity. In general, the most significant pathology due to intranuclear DNA viruses is associated with host jumps. To date, members of the genus Mastadenovirus have only been found in mammal hosts, and the genus Aviadenovirus has only been found in birds.1 There has been a large investigative bias towards human adenoviruses, leading to a poor understanding of greater adenoviral diversity and ecology. Only 2 adenoviral species have been described in Carnivora, Canine adenovirus and California sea lion adenovirus.2,3 Canine adenovirus may be a host jump from a bat adenovirus.3 Little is understood about cospeciation of adenoviruses in the Carnivora linage. We investigated the diversity of adenoviruses in breeding colonies of South American fur seals (SAFS, Arctophoca australis) from two populations, one in Peru (Punta San Juan Marine Protected Area, 15°22’S, 75°12’W) and the other in Chile (Guafo Island, 43°36’S, 74°43’W). Screens using nested pan-adenoviral primers have identified 4 Mastadenoviruses and 4 Aviadenoviruses. Concurrent investigation of adenoviruses in Humboldt penguins (HP, Spheniscus humboldti) at the same Peruvian site identified 3 Mastadenoviruses, 2 Aviadenoviruses, and 3 Siadenoviruses. One Aviadenovirus has been detected in both HP and SAFS. This is the first report of Aviadenoviruses in mammals or Mastadenoviruses in birds, and suggests that further viral diversity studies in sites with high density mixed species populations is warranted.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Dr. Gwen Jankowski, Dr. Matt Allender, Marco Cardeña, and Franco Garcia for their assistance with this project. Partial funding for sample collection in Peru was provided by the Chicago Zoological Society, the Chicago Board of Trade Endangered Species Fund, and the Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Center. Funding for sample collection in Chile was provided Society for Marine Mammalogy.
Literature Cited
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