A Comprehensive Study of Cutaneous Fibropapillomatosis in Free-Ranging Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) and Red Deer (Cervus elaphus): from Clinical Manifestations to Whole-Genome Sequencing of Papillomaviruses.

Jernej Kmetec,Aleksandra Grilc Fajfar,Diana Žele Vengušt,Gorazd Vengušt,Urška Kuhar

doi:10.3390/v12091001

Abstract

Papillomaviruses (PVs) are an extremely large group of viruses that cause skin and mucosa infections in humans and various animals. In roe deer and red deer, most PVs belong to the Deltapapillomavirus genus and cause neoplastic changes that are generally described as fibropapillomas. Despite the wide distribution of roe and red deer throughout Europe and beyond, the data in the scientific literature regarding the widespread distribution of PVs and the genetic variability of PV genomes in these species are rather scarce. This study describes cutaneous fibropapillomatosis cases in roe and red deer with clinical manifestations that are typical of infections with PVs. In all cases, the presence of PV DNA was confirmed using PCR, followed by Sanger sequencing of the partial L1 gene. The complete PV genomes were determined in all the investigated samples using next-generation sequencing technology, revealing infections of roe deer with the CcaPV1-type and red deer with the CePV1v-type variant. A comparison of the complete CcaPV1-type and CePV1v-type variant genome sequences reported here with already available complete genome sequences in GenBank revealed their great genetic stability across time and space.

Highlights

Papillomaviruses (PVs) are nonenveloped viruses with a circular double-stranded DNA genome that ranges in size between 6800 and 8400 bp [1,2]
With clinical signs of fibropapillomatosis were harvested by hunters during either the regular annual cull or their emergency removal from the wild due to illness according to the hunter inspector’s decision (Figure 1)
The neoplastic changes in all the investigated animals were diagnosed as cutaneous fibropapillomas based on gross pathology and histopathology

Summary

Introduction

Papillomaviruses (PVs) are nonenveloped viruses with a circular double-stranded DNA genome that ranges in size between 6800 and 8400 bp [1,2]. PV genomes encode 8–10 proteins and can be divided into three functional regions: the long control region (LCR), the early region (E) and the late region (L). The capsid is composed of the L1 and L2 proteins. The E1 and E2 proteins are involved in replication and transcription. The E5, E6 and E7 proteins induce cellular DNA replication. The E4 protein may represent a late-functioning protein and binds to specific cytoskeleton structures [3,4]

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