TY - JOUR T1 - High Genetic Diversity and Adaptive Potential of Two Simian Hemorrhagic Fever Viruses in a Wild Primate Population JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/001040 SP - 001040 AU - Adam L. Bailey AU - Michael Lauck AU - Andrea Weiler AU - Samuel D. Sibley AU - Jorge M. Dinis AU - Zachary Bergman AU - Chase W. Nelson AU - Michael Correll AU - Michael Gleicher AU - David Hyeroba AU - Alex Tumukunde AU - Geoffrey Weny AU - Colin Chapman AU - Jens H. Kuhn AU - Austin L. Hughes AU - Thomas C. Friedrich AU - Tony L. Goldberg AU - David H. O’Connor Y1 - 2013/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2013/12/03/001040.abstract N2 - Key biological properties such as high genetic diversity and high evolutionary rate enhance the potential of certain RNA viruses to adapt and emerge. Identifying viruses with these properties in their natural hosts could dramatically improve disease forecasting and surveillance. Recently, we discovered two novel members of the viral family Arteriviridae: simian hemorrhagic fever virus (SHFV)-krc1 and SHFV-krc2, infecting a single wild red colobus (Procolobus rufomitratus tephrosceles) in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Nearly nothing is known about the biological properties of SHFVs in nature, although the SHFV type strain, SHFV-LVR, has caused devastating outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fever in captive macaques. Here we detected SHFV-krc1 and SHFV-krc2 in 40% and 47% of 60 wild red colobus tested, respectively. We found viral loads in excess of 106 − 107 RNA copies per milliliter of blood plasma for each of these viruses. SHFV-krc1 and SHFV-krc2 also showed high genetic diversity at both the inter- and intra-host levels. Analyses of synonymous and non-synonymous nucleotide diversity across viral genomes revealed patterns suggestive of positive selection in SHFV open reading frames (ORF) 5 (SHFV-krc2 only) and 7 (SHFV-krc1 and SHFV-krc2). Thus, these viruses share several important properties with some of the most rapidly evolving, emergent RNA viruses. ER -