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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
Species association of hepatitis b virus (HBV) in non-human apes; evidence for recombination between gorilla and chimpanzee variants
PLoS ONE, Volume 7, No. 3, Article e33430, Year 2012
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Description
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections are widely distributed in humans, infecting approximately one third of the world's population. HBV variants have also been detected and genetically characterised from Old World apes; Gorilla gorilla (gorilla), Pan troglodytes (chimpanzee), Pongo pygmaeus (orang-utan), Nomascus nastusus and Hylobates pileatus (gibbons) and from the New World monkey, Lagothrix lagotricha (woolly monkey). To investigate species-specificity and potential for cross species transmission of HBV between sympatric species of apes (such as gorillas and chimpanzees in Central Africa) or between humans and chimpanzees or gorillas, variants of HBV infecting captive wild-born non-human primates were genetically characterised. 9 of 62 chimpanzees (11.3%) and two from 11 gorillas (18%) were HBV-infected (15% combined frequency), while other Old world monkey species were negative. Complete genome sequences were obtained from six of the infected chimpanzee and both gorillas; those from P. t. ellioti grouped with previously characterised variants from this subspecies. However, variants recovered from P. t. troglodytes HBV variants also grouped within this clade, indicative of transmission between sub-species, forming a paraphyletic clade. The two gorilla viruses were phylogenetically distinct from chimpanzee and human variants although one showed evidence for a recombination event with a P.t.e.-derived HBV variant in the partial X and core gene region. Both of these observations provide evidence for circulation of HBV between different species and sub-species of non-human primates, a conclusion that differs from the hypothesis if of strict host specificity of HBV genotypes. © 2012 Lyons et al.
Authors & Co-Authors
Lyons, Sinéad
United Kingdom, Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh
Sharp, Colin P.
United Kingdom, Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh
United Kingdom, Midlothian
University of Edinburgh, Roslin Institute
LeBreton, Matthew
United States, Palo Alto
Stanford University
Djoko, Cyrille Finyom
United States, Palo Alto
Stanford University
Kiyang, John Anyam
Cameroon, Limbe
Limbe Wildlife Centre
Lankester, Felix
Cameroon, Limbe
Limbe Wildlife Centre
Bibila, Tafon G.
Cameroon, Yaounde
Ape Action Africa
Tamoufé, Ubald
United States, San Francisco
Global Viral
Fair, Joseph N.
United States, San Francisco
Global Viral
Wolfe, Nathan D.
United States, Palo Alto
Stanford University
Simmonds, Peter N.
United Kingdom, Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh
Statistics
Citations: 26
Authors: 11
Affiliations: 6
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1371/journal.pone.0033430
e-ISSN:
19326203
Research Areas
Genetics And Genomics
Infectious Diseases
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study