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Screening great ape museum specimens for DNA viruses
Michelle Hämmerle1,2, Meriam Guellil1,2, Lovro Trgovec-Greif3,4
1Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria.
Scientific Reports
|November 30, 2024
Summary
Museum collections offer valuable insights into animal viruses. Researchers found hepatitis B virus genomes in historical gorilla and chimpanzee specimens, aiding evolutionary studies.
Area of Science:
- Paleovirology and Evolutionary Biology
- Genomics and Bioinformatics
- Museum Studies and Biodiversity Conservation
Background:
- Natural history museum collections contain invaluable historical specimens of wild species.
- These collections provide a unique resource for studying the evolution of viruses and their hosts.
- Previous studies have successfully extracted viral DNA from historical specimens, such as monkeypox virus from orangutans.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the potential of great ape museum specimens for studying DNA virus evolution.
- To screen a large number of historical great ape specimens for the presence of various DNA viruses.
- To obtain and analyze viral genomes from these ancient samples.
Main Methods:
- Screened 209 great ape museum specimens for 99 different DNA viruses.
- Employed hybridization capture techniques combined with short-read high-throughput sequencing.
- Focused on extracting and sequencing viral genetic material preserved in dry specimens.
Main Results:
- Identified the presence of multiple viruses in the historical great ape specimens.
- Successfully obtained several near-complete viral genomes from the analyzed samples.
- Reported high-coverage hepatitis B virus genomes from one gorilla and two chimpanzee individuals, phylogenetically linked to contemporary strains.
Conclusions:
- Great ape museum specimens are a viable resource for paleovirological research and understanding viral evolution.
- The study successfully detected and characterized ancient hepatitis B virus strains within host species.
- This approach can significantly contribute to reconstructing the evolutionary history of viruses and host-pathogen interactions.
