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Journal of Virology, March 2009, p. 2500-2509, Vol. 83, No. 6
0022-538X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.01946-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Discovery of a Novel Single-Stranded DNA Virus from a Sea Turtle Fibropapilloma by Using Viral Metagenomics{triangledown}

Terry Fei Fan Ng,1 Charles Manire,2,{dagger} Kelly Borrowman,3 Tammy Langer,4,{ddagger} Llewellyn Ehrhart,3 and Mya Breitbart1*

College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, 140 7th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701,1 Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, Florida 34236,2 College of Sciences, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, Florida 32816-2368,3 Clearwater Marine Aquarium, 249 Windward Passage, Clearwater, Florida 337674

Received 16 September 2008/ Accepted 23 December 2008

Viral metagenomics, consisting of viral particle purification and shotgun sequencing, is a powerful technique for discovering viruses associated with diseases with no definitive etiology, viruses that share limited homology with known viruses, or viruses that are not culturable. Here we used viral metagenomics to examine viruses associated with sea turtle fibropapillomatosis (FP), a debilitating neoplastic disease affecting sea turtles worldwide. By means of purifying and shotgun sequencing the viral community directly from the fibropapilloma of a Florida green sea turtle, a novel single-stranded DNA virus, sea turtle tornovirus 1 (STTV1), was discovered. The single-stranded, circular genome of STTV1 was approximately 1,800 nucleotides in length. STTV1 has only weak amino acid level identities (25%) to chicken anemia virus in short regions of its genome; hence, STTV1 may represent the first member of a novel virus family. A total of 35 healthy turtles and 27 turtles with FP were tested for STTV1 using PCR, and only 2 turtles severely afflicted with FP were positive. The affected turtles were systemically infected with STTV1, since STTV1 was found in blood and all major organs. STTV1 exists as a quasispecies, with several genome variants identified in the fibropapilloma of each positive turtle, suggesting rapid evolution of this virus. The STTV1 variants were identical over the majority of their genomes but contained a hypervariable region with extensive divergence. This study demonstrates the potential of viral metagenomics for discovering novel viruses directly from animal tissue, which can enhance our understanding of viral evolution and diversity.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, 140 7th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. Phone: (727) 553-3520. Fax: (727) 553-1189. E-mail: mya{at}marine.usf.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 30 December 2008.

{dagger} Present address: Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas.

{ddagger} Present address: Volusia Marine Science Center, Ponce Inlet, FL 32127.

Journal of Virology, March 2009, p. 2500-2509, Vol. 83, No. 6
0022-538X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.01946-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

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  • Ng, T. F. F., Suedmeyer, W. K., Wheeler, E., Gulland, F., Breitbart, M. (2009). Novel anellovirus discovered from a mortality event of captive California sea lions. J. Gen. Virol. 90: 1256-1261 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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