Abstract
From 2010 to 2015, 73 common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) housed at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center (WNPRC) were diagnosed postmortem with lymphocytic enterocolitis. We used unbiased deep-sequencing to screen the blood of deceased enterocolitis-positive marmosets for viruses. In five out of eight common marmosets with lymphocytic enterocolitis, we discovered a novel pegivirus not present in ten matched, clinically normal controls. The novel virus, which we named Southwest bike trail virus (SOBV), is most closely related (68% nucleotide identity) to a strain of simian pegivirus A isolated from a three-striped night monkey (Aotus trivirgatus). We screened 146 living WNPRC common marmosets for SOBV, finding an overall prevalence of 34% (50/146). Over four years, 85 of these 146 animals died or were euthanized. Histological examination revealed 27 SOBV-positive marmosets from this cohort had lymphocytic enterocolitis, compared to 42 SOBV-negative marmosets, indicating no association between SOBV and disease in this cohort (p = 0.0798). We also detected SOBV in two of 33 (6%) clinically normal marmosets screened during transfer from the New England Primate Research Center, suggesting SOBV could be exerting confounding influences on comparisons of common marmoset studies from multiple colonies.
Highlights
Common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) are a valuable model species due to their small body size, communal monogamous familial behavior, birth of hematopoietic chimeric litters, short parturition intervals, and status as members of a non-endangered primate species [1–5]
To examine the etiology of the unusually high rate of lymphocytic enterocolitis in deceased Wisconsin National Primate Research Center (WNPRC) common marmosets, banked plasma samples from eight common marmosets diagnosed with lymphocytic enterocolitis and from ten clinically normal, live common marmosets to be used as controls were screened by deep-sequencing for the presence of viral RNA
RNA from a previously undocumented pegivirus was detected in the plasma of five of eight deceased marmosets with lymphocytic enterocolitis
Summary
Common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) are a valuable model species due to their small body size, communal monogamous familial behavior, birth of hematopoietic chimeric litters, short parturition intervals, and status as members of a non-endangered primate species [1–5]. From 2010 to 2015, 73 common marmosets housed at the WNPRC were euthanized due experimental end point, chronic intractable diarrhea, or chronic severe weight loss; they underwent necropsy with histology and were diagnosed with lymphocytic enterocolitis [18–21]. Unbiased deep-sequencing led to the discovery of two similar variants of a novel pegivirus, most closely related to a variant of simian pegivirus A (SPgV-A) previously isolated from a three-striped night monkey (Aotus trivirgatus). This novel pegivirus was present in a subset of deceased common marmosets diagnosed postmortem with lymphocytic enterocolitis and was not present in matched, clinically normal controls
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