Identification of distinct rodent-associated adenovirus lineages from a mixed-use landscape in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot

Abstract

Shifts in land-use patterns and increased human-livestock-wildlife interactions have generated numerous possibilities for pathogen spillover. This demands increased efforts of pathogen surveillance in wildlife, especially in changing landscapes with high biodiversity. We investigated adenovirus diversity in small mammals, an understudied host taxon, from a forest-plantation mosaic in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot. Using PCR-based screening followed by Sanger sequencing and phylogenetic analyses, we attempted to detect and characterize adenovirus diversity in seven species of small mammals. We observed high prevalence (up to 38.8%) and identified five lineages of adenoviruses with unique mutations in the endemic and dominant small mammal species, Rattus satarae. These lineages significantly differed from other known Murine adenoviruses (p-distance > 25%), indicating the likelihood of novel adenovirus diversity in this endemic small mammal. Collectively, our results highlight the potential for unexplored diversity of DNA viruses like adenovirus in poorly explored host taxa inhabiting human-used landscapes and its zoonotic implications.