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Abstract
Small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs) are found in sheep in Germany and Iran. SRLVs have been classified into four genotypes: A–C and E. Genotype A has been subdivided into 20 subtypes. Previous studies suggested that, first, the ancestors of genotype A are those SRLVs found in Turkey, second, the evolution of SRLVs is related to the domestication process, and, third, SRLV infection was first observed in sheep in Iceland and the source of that infection was a flock imported from Germany. This study generated, for the first time, partial SRLV sequence data from German and Iranian sheep, enhancing our knowledge of the genetic and evolutionary relationships of SRLVs, and their associations with the domestication process. Based on 54 SRLV sequences from German and Iranian sheep, our results reveal: (1) SRLV subtypes A4, A5, A11, A16 and A21 (new) are found in German sheep and A22 (new) in Iranian sheep. (2) Genotype A has potentially an additional ancestor (A22), found in Iran, Lebanon and Jordan. (3) Subtype A22 is likely an old version of SRLVs. (4) The transmission routes of some SRLVs are compatible with domestication pathways. (5) This study found no evidence of Icelandic subtype A1 in German sheep.
Highlights
Small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs) are found in sheep in Germany and Iran
The gag gene encodes the matrix (MA) protein (p17), capsid (CA) protein (p25) and nucleocapsid (NC) protein (p14)[3]. Both gag and pol genes are relatively conserved, and phylogenetic analyses of SRLVs have been established based on these two genes[4]
Of the 23 selected sequences, 17 gag sequences belonged to 13 German sheep flocks and 6 corresponded to 6 Iranian sheep flocks
Summary
Small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs) are found in sheep in Germany and Iran. SRLVs have been classified into four genotypes: A–C and E. First, the ancestors of genotype A are those SRLVs found in Turkey, second, the evolution of SRLVs is related to the domestication process, and, third, SRLV infection was first observed in sheep in Iceland and the source of that infection was a flock imported from Germany. During the first wave of domestication, early domesticated sheep, which were morphologically wild but managed, appeared in the ancient Fertile Crescent region, including parts of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Jordan, approximately 10,000 to 8,000 years before present (YBP)[28,29]. Host molecular genetic data combined with archaeological evidence indicates that sheep were distributed from the Fertile Crescent to the West and East likely during both waves of domestication[27,31,32]. Sheep with improved production traits were introduced from the East into Europe at the beginning of the 5th millennium YBP34
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