Abstract
Gyrovirus 3 (GyV3), the third novel emerging species of the genus Gyrovirus of the Anelloviridae family, has been described in multiple hosts. Epidemiologically, there are suggestions that GyV3 is associated with diarrhea/proventriculitis, however, no direct causal evidence exists between GyV3 infection and specific clinical diseases. Herein, we infected special pathogen-free (SPF) chickens with GyV3, and then assessed the pathogenicity and tissue tropism. The results revealed that GyV3 induced persistent infection characterized by diarrhea, aplastic anemia, immunosuppression, and persistent systemic lymphocytic inflammation. Clinically, the infected chickens presented ruffled feathers, diarrhea, anemia, and weight loss. Aplastic anemia was characterized by progressive depletion of hematopoietic cells in the bone marrow, immunosuppression was associated with atrophy of the thymus, spleen, and bursa of Fabricious, progressive lymphocytic inflammations were characterized by proventriculitis, adrenalitis, pancreatitis, hepatitis, nephritis, and bronchitis. Viral loads of GyV3 in tissues exhibited “M”, “N”, “W” or “V” type dynamic changes. The highest level of viral loads was reported in bone marrow at 7dpi, followed by the adrenal gland at 2 dpi, the sciatic nerve at 7 dpi, and bile at 35 dpi. The bone marrow and kidney demonstrate the strongest immunostaining of GyV3-VP1 antigen and were suggested as the target tissues of GyV3. Collectively, GyV3 is an immunosuppressive pathogenic virus that targets the bone marrow and kidney in chickens. Exploring the pathogenicity and tissue tropism of GyV3 will guide the basic understanding of the biology of GyV3 and its pathogenesis in chickens.
Highlights
The genus Gyrovirus (GyV) of the Anelloviridae family, comprises a group of small, non-enveloped, icosahedral viruses with a circular single-stranded approximately 2.3-kb long DNA genome
In 2019, Gyrovirus 3 (GyV3) was found in a fecal sample of one normal cat and two diarrhetic cats from 197 fecal samples collected from pet cats in northeast China [18]
Large-scale and highly diverse novel Anelloviruses have presently been identified through viral metagenomics of different hosts or environments [20]
Summary
The genus Gyrovirus (GyV) of the Anelloviridae family, comprises a group of small, non-enveloped, icosahedral viruses with a circular single-stranded approximately 2.3-kb long DNA (ssDNA) genome (negative-sense). Chu et al [4] found that GyV3 exhibited a 5.8% positive rate in 191 faecal specimens sampled. Fehér et al [14] investigated human gyroviruses in Hungary pet ferrets with a background disease characterized by a lymph node, spleen enlargement and diarrhea, whereby GyV3 demonstrated a 20% (2/20) infection rate. GyV3 was detected in stools from healthy children (17/49, 34.7%) and patients with diarrhea (22/149, 14.8%) in South Africa [15], and in chicken meat from stores in San Francisco [6]. A new genotype of GyV3 was again detected by Fehér et al [16] in a fecal sample of a pet ferret. We reported GyV3 in broiler chickens with proventriculitis in our laboratory, which exhibited a 12.5% infection rate [17]. Based on the sequence analysis of cat-sourced GyV3, the authors deduced that the virus potentially originated from GyV3 infected chickens
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