A Comprehensive Study of Cutaneous Fibropapillomatosis in Free-Ranging Roe Deer (<i>Capreolus capreolus</i>) and Red Deer (<i>Cervus elaphus</i>): from Clinical Manifestations to Whole-Genome Sequencing of Papillomaviruses

Papillomaviruses (PVs) are an extremely large group of viruses that cause skin and mucosa infections in humans and various animals. In roe deer and red deer, most PVs belong to the <i>Deltapapillomavirus</i> genus and cause neoplastic changes that are generally described as fibropapillom...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jernej Kmetec, Urška Kuhar, Aleksandra Grilc Fajfar, Diana Žele Vengušt, Gorazd Vengušt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-09-01
Series:Viruses
Subjects:
NGS
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/12/9/1001
Description
Summary:Papillomaviruses (PVs) are an extremely large group of viruses that cause skin and mucosa infections in humans and various animals. In roe deer and red deer, most PVs belong to the <i>Deltapapillomavirus</i> genus and cause neoplastic changes that are generally described as fibropapillomas. Despite the wide distribution of roe and red deer throughout Europe and beyond, the data in the scientific literature regarding the widespread distribution of PVs and the genetic variability of PV genomes in these species are rather scarce. This study describes cutaneous fibropapillomatosis cases in roe and red deer with clinical manifestations that are typical of infections with PVs. In all cases, the presence of PV DNA was confirmed using PCR, followed by Sanger sequencing of the partial <i>L1</i> gene. The complete PV genomes were determined in all the investigated samples using next-generation sequencing technology, revealing infections of roe deer with the CcaPV1-type and red deer with the CePV1v-type variant. A comparison of the complete CcaPV1-type and CePV1v-type variant genome sequences reported here with already available complete genome sequences in GenBank revealed their great genetic stability across time and space.
ISSN:1999-4915