Data from: Mother-offspring transmission and age-dependent accumulation of simian foamy virus in wild chimpanzees

Simian foamy viruses (SFVs) are thought to infect virtually any adult non-human primate (NHP). While much data have accumulated about patterns of co-divergence with their hosts and cross-species transmission events, little is known about the modalities of SFV transmission within NHP species, especially in the wild. Here we provide a detailed investigation of the dynamics of SFV circulation in a wild community of Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus). We demonstrate that mother–offspring (vertical) SFV transmission is common and hypothesize that it accounts for a number of primary infections. We also show that multiple infections with several chimpanzee specific SFV strains (i.e., super-infection) commonly happen in adult chimpanzees, which might point at adult-specific aggressive behaviors as a lifelong source of SFV infection. Our data give evidence for complex SFV dynamics in wild chimpanzees, even at a single community scale, and show that linking wild NHP social interactions and their microorganisms’ dynamics is feasible.

猿泡沫病毒(Simian foamy viruses, SFVs)被认为几乎可感染所有成年非人灵长类(non-human primate, NHP)。尽管学界已积累了大量关于其与宿主共分化模式及跨物种传播事件的相关数据，但针对猿泡沫病毒在非人灵长类物种内部的传播方式，尤其是野外环境中的传播路径，目前仍所知有限。本研究对西部黑猩猩(Pan troglodytes verus)野生社群中的猿泡沫病毒传播动态展开了详尽调研。研究证实，母婴（垂直）传播为猿泡沫病毒的常见传播途径，并推测该途径可解释多数原发感染的发生。同时研究发现，成年黑猩猩常会感染多种黑猩猩特异性猿泡沫病毒毒株（即多重感染(super-infection)），这或许提示成年个体特有的攻击行为是猿泡沫病毒终身性的感染源。本研究的数据证实了野生黑猩猩群体中存在复杂的猿泡沫病毒动态传播特征，即便仅针对单个社群尺度而言；同时也证明，将野生非人灵长类的社会互动与其微生物动态相关联的研究路径具备可行性。