Identification of a new Inovirus in the absence of bacterial infection in the human virome

Abstract

Viruses infecting bacteria, known as bacteriophages, represent the most abundant viral particles in the human body. They participate in the control of the human associated bacterial communities and play an important role in the dissemination of virulence genes. Here we present the identification of a new genetic element, named RIP1, in the human virome. RIP1 shares conserved structural genes with the single-stranded DNA viruses of the Inoviridae family. Furthermore structure-function studies identified nuclear subcellular localization of the RIP1 DNA replication/recombination machinery. Additional metagenomics analysis and polymerase chain reaction detected RIP1 in multiple body sites including blood, cerebrospinal pericardial and amniotic fluids, nasal swabs and feces in the absence of concomitant bacterial infection, uncovering inovirus phage persistence in the human virome.