[Genetic diversity and evolution of primate Gammaherpesvirinae]

The Gammaherpesvirinae sub-family is divided into two genera, the Lymphocryptovirus and the Rhadinovirus. Until recently, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the human prototype of the Lymphocryptovirus genus, and simian homologues have only been detected in humans and Old World non-human primates. In other respects, the Rhadinovirus genus was only represented by Herpesvirus saimiri and Herpesvirus ateles of New World monkey species. Therefore, the general thinking at that time was that the separation of the continents resulted in drastic changes in the Gammaherpesvirinae evolution. The discovery of the human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8), belonging to the Rhadinovirus genus, followed by the identification of CalHV3 (Callitrichine herpesvirus 3) a lymphocryptovirus of marmoset, challenged this old paradigm. The recent description of numerous viruses belonging to the Gammaherpesvirinae subfamily from different Old and NewWorld primate species let to develop and to support co-speciational evolution hypotheses of these viruses and their hosts. This review focuses on our current knowledge of the genetic diversity and evolution of primate Gammaherpesvirinae.