1. Discovery of Novel Herpes Simplexviruses in Wild Gorillas, Bonobos, and Chimpanzees Supports Zoonotic Origin of HSV-2
- Author
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Mimi Arandjelovic, Sonja Metzger, Joel O. Wertheim, Samuel Angedakin, Sorrel Jones, Reilly Hostager, Fabian H. Leendertz, Paula Dieguez, Barbara Fruth, Hjalmar Kuehl, Ilka Herbinger, Fred Babweteera, Kevin Lee, Kevin E. Langergraber, Kevin Merkel, Nadege Freda Madinda, Roman M. Wittig, Lucy Jayne Ormsby, Volker Sommer, Mattia Bessone, Martha M. Robbins, Yisa Ginath Yuh, Erin G. Wessling, Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer, Winnie Eckardt, Tara S. Stoinski, Diane Ryu, Emmanuel Ayuk Ayimisin, Kathryn J Brun-Jeffery, and Pupko, Tal
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Herpesvirus 2, Human ,viruses ,ape ,Biology ,AcademicSubjects/SCI01180 ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Viral Zoonoses ,phylogenetics, zoonosis, herpesvirus, molecular clock, ape ,QH301 ,03 medical and health sciences ,herpesvirus ,ddc:570 ,Genetics ,Animals ,Humans ,Simplexvirus ,2.2 Factors relating to the physical environment ,Aetiology ,Molecular Biology ,Discoveries ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Phylogeny ,030304 developmental biology ,QR355 ,QL ,0303 health sciences ,Evolutionary Biology ,GE ,Herpesvirus 2 ,AcademicSubjects/SCI01130 ,molecular clock ,Hominidae ,Sequence Analysis, DNA ,DNA ,zoonosis ,Virology ,phylogenetics ,Infectious Diseases ,Good Health and Well Being ,Sexually Transmitted Infections ,Biochemistry and Cell Biology ,Infection ,Sequence Analysis ,Human - Abstract
Viruses closely related to human pathogens can reveal the origins of human infectious diseases. Human herpes simplexvirus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) are hypothesized to have arisen via host-virus codivergence and cross-species transmission. We report the discovery of novel herpes simplexviruses during a large-scale screening of fecal samples from wild gorillas, bonobos, and chimpanzees. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that, contrary to expectation, simplexviruses from these African apes are all more closely related to HSV-2 than to HSV-1. Molecular clock-based hypothesis testing suggests the divergence between HSV-1 and the African great ape simplexviruses likely represents a codivergence event between humans and gorillas. The simplexviruses infecting African great apes subsequently experienced multiple cross-species transmission events over the past 3 My, the most recent of which occurred between humans and bonobos around 1 Ma. These findings revise our understanding of the origins of human herpes simplexviruses and suggest that HSV-2 is one of the earliest zoonotic pathogens.
- Published
- 2021