Cospeciation of coronavirus and paramyxovirus with their bat hosts in the same geographical areas

• Main Authors: Jie Liang, Chunchao Zhu, Libiao Zhang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2021-07-01
• Series: BMC Ecology and Evolution
• Subjects: Coevolution; Coronavirus; Paramyxovirus; SARS; MERS; Hendra virus
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-021-01878-7

Abstract Background Bat-borne viruses are relatively host specific. We hypothesize that this host specificity is due to coevolution of the viruses with their hosts. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the coevolution of coronavirus and paramyxovirus with their bat hosts. Published nucleotide sequences of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene of 60 coronavirus strains identified from 37 bat species, the RNA polymerase large (L) gene of 36 paramyxovirus strains from 29 bat species, and the cytochrome B (cytB) gene of 35 bat species were analyzed for coevolution signals. Each coevolution signal detected was tested and verified by global-fit cophylogenic analysis using software ParaFit, PACo, and eMPRess. Results Significant coevolution signals were detected in coronaviruses and paramyxoviruses and their bat hosts, and closely related bat hosts were found to carry closely related viruses. Conclusions Our results suggest that paramyxovirus and coronavirus coevolve with their hosts.