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Cited by 77Animal Virus Infections StudiesBacteriophages and microbial interactionsZoonotic diseases and public health

Fecal Viral Diversity of Captive and Wild Tasmanian Devils Characterized Using Virion-Enriched Metagenomics and Metatranscriptomics

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Chong, Rowena, Shi, Mang, Grueber, Catherine E., Holmes, Edward C., Hogg, Carolyn J., Belov, Katherine, Barrs, Vanessa R.·2019·Journal of Virology
DOI 10.1128/jvi.00205-19PMC PMC6532096
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Abstract

The Tasmanian devil is an iconic Australian marsupial that has suffered an 80% population decline due to a contagious cancer, devil facial tumor disease, along with other threats. Until now, viral discovery in this species has been confined to one gammaherpesvirus (dasyurid herpesvirus 2 [DaHV-2]), for which captivity was identified as a significant risk factor. Our discovery of 24 novel marsupial-associated RNA and DNA viruses, and that viral diversity is lower in captive than in wild devils, has greatly expanded our knowledge of gut-associated viruses in devils and provides important baseline information that will contribute to the conservation and captive management of this endangered species. Our results also revealed that a combination of virion-enriched metagenomics and metatranscriptomics may be a more comprehensive approach for virome characterization than either method alone. Our results thus provide a springboard for continuous improvements in the way we study complex viral communities.

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  • This is the second time that RHDV2 has been found in non-rabbit hosts.

    “This is the second time that RHDV2 has been found in non-rabbit hosts (Chong et al. 2019), presumably through rabbit consumption in this case.”

    From Red fox viromes in urban and rural landscapes (2020) · cites this paper as Chong et al. 2019

    The Results section reports PCR-confirmed RHDV2 in Tasmanian devil fecal samples, supporting detection in a non-rabbit animal. Our copy does not establish that the citing paper’s finding was the second such detection. The Discussion also cautions that the virus may have come from the devils’ diet rather than replicating in them; page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Chong, R., Shi, M., Grueber, C. E., Holmes, E. C., Hogg, C. J., Belov, K., & Barrs, V. R.
Affiliations
  • The University of Sydney (AU)
  • Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Corresponding author
Barrs, Vanessa R.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Virology
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Published
2019-06
Volume
93
Issue
11
ISSN
  • 0022-538X (ISSN-L)
  • 1098-5514
DOI
10.1128/jvi.00205-19
PMC
PMC6532096
OpenAlex
W2921204261
Cited by
77
References
61
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 3
FWCI
8.75
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Virology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Department of Education and Training | Australian Research Council (LP140100508, FL1701000022)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Animal Virus Infections Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Zoonotic diseases and public health
Keywords
Tasmanian devil, fecal virome, captive vs wild populations, metatranscriptomics, devil facial tumour disease, endangered species conservation, captive management
MeSH terms
Animals, Animals, Wild, Animals, Zoo, Australia, Feces, Marsupialia, Virion, Gene Expression Profiling, Metagenomics, Endangered Species, Transcriptome

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