Amplification of Emerging Viruses in a Bat Colony

Adriana Fumie Tateno,Antje Seebens,Florian Gloza-Rausch,Jan Felix Drexler,Tom Wegner,Christian Drosten,Victor Max Corman,Rodrigo Melim Zerbinati,Marcel A Müller

doi:10.3201/eid1703.100526

Abstract

Bats host noteworthy viral pathogens, including coronaviruses, astroviruses, and adenoviruses. Knowledge on the ecology of reservoir-borne viruses is critical for preventive approaches against zoonotic epidemics. We studied a maternity colony of Myotis myotis bats in the attic of a private house in a suburban neighborhood in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, during 2008, 2009, and 2010. One coronavirus, 6 astroviruses, and 1 novel adenovirus were identified and monitored quantitatively. Strong and specific amplification of RNA viruses, but not of DNA viruses, occurred during colony formation and after parturition. The breeding success of the colony was significantly better in 2010 than in 2008, in spite of stronger amplification of coronaviruses and astroviruses in 2010, suggesting that these viruses had little pathogenic influence on bats. However, the general correlation of virus and bat population dynamics suggests that bats control infections similar to other mammals and that they may well experience epidemics of viruses under certain circumstances.

Highlights

Bats host noteworthy viral pathogens, including coronaviruses, astroviruses, and adenoviruses
In a first step, the M. myotis maternity colony was surveyed for bat-borne RNA viruses
HM368167) that was clearly separated from a clade of against the DNA virus (AdV) recently reported in a M. ricketti bat in China and a Pipistrellus pipistrellus bat in Germany [6,20]

Summary

Introduction

Bats host noteworthy viral pathogens, including coronaviruses, astroviruses, and adenoviruses. The breeding success of the colony was significantly better in 2010 than in 2008, in spite of stronger amplification of coronaviruses and astroviruses in 2010, suggesting that these viruses had little pathogenic influence on bats. Bats (Chiroptera) constitute ≈20% of living mammal species and are distributed on all continents except Antarctica [1] Their ability to fly and migrate, as well as the large sizes of social groups, predispose them for the acquisition and maintenance of viruses [2]. We investigated the patterns of maintenance and amplification of specific RNA- and DNA viruses by direct and quantitative virus detection in a maternity colony over 3 consecutive years. Viruses identified included 1 CoV, 6 different AstVs, as well as a novel bat AdV. Twenty-five–microliter reactions used the SuperScript III PlatinumOne-Step qRT-PCR Kit (Invitrogen, Karlsruhe, Germany) for detecting CoVs and AstVs in M. myotis bats or the Platinum Taq DNA Polymerase Kit (Invitrogen) for

Methods

Results

Conclusion