Sequence and phylogenetic analysis identifies a putative novel gyrovirus 3 genotype in ferret feces

The genomic sequence of a novel gyrovirus (GyV) 3 strain was detected from the fecal sample of a pet ferret. The length (2,359 nt) and the basic genomic structure of this strain was very similar to that of the single known GyV3 reference strain, whereas the genome sequence identity between the two strains was only 76 %. Similarly, moderate sequence homology was found within the predicted protein coding regions, VP1 (nt, 72 %; aa, 76 %), VP2 (nt, 84 %; aa, 85 %), and VP3 (nt, 85 %; aa, 73 %). Sequence identities were lower when comparing our strain with other GyV species (48-65 % genome-wide nt identity). Phylogenetic analysis of the coding regions clustered the ferret origin GyV3 strain within Clade A. Although the available whole genomic sequence of novel GyVs permits limited conclusions to be drawn regarding the classification of the Hungarian GyV3 strain, our data indicate that this novel strain may be considered as a new genotype within GyV3. Further investigations are needed to reveal the genetic diversity and biological properties of newly described members of the Gyrovirus genus.