Viral diversity in vertebrates from Alto Pantanal, Mato Grosso, 2019

The Alto Pantanal is a key yet unexplored Brazilian wetland for studying vertebrate viral profiles. This study presents viral taxonomic profiles from vertebrate sera sampled in May, June and October of 2019 in Porto São Luiz and Pirizal, Alto Pantanal. A total of 13 frogs, 19 bats, 23 caimans, 36 equids, 20 domestic hens, 140 birds and 16 humans were sampled. After nucleic acid extraction, individual samples were pooled by species and subjected to a metagenomic approach. Viral reads accounted for less than 0.2 % in each pool, except in domestic hens (35.8 %), yielding an overall viral abundance variation among pools of 48.83 %. In total, twenty-nine viral genomic sequences were retrieved from five pools. In equids, two coding-complete genomes were identified belonging to species Copiparvovirus ungulate8 and Mutorquevirus equid2. In domestic hens, four coding-complete genomes of species Alpharetrovirus avileu were detected, along with partial genomes of three gyroviroviruses of species Gyrovirus homsa1, Gyrovirus galga1 and a putative novel unclassified gyrovirus. In humans, 15 genomes of known human anelloviruses were identified, as well as partial sequences of Orthoflavivirus ilheusense and Erythroparvovirus primate species. In caimans, a partial genome belonging to genus Betadintovirus was detected. In frogs, one partial sequence of a putative novel pegivirus, and a coding-complete sequence of an unclassified retrovirus (Rhinella marina endogenous retrovirus) were found. These findings provide valuable insights into viral circulation within the diverse Pantanal biome, and support viral genomic surveillance efforts in the region.