Data from: Bats, primates, and the evolutionary origins and diversification of mammalian gammaherpesviruses

Gammaherpesviruses (γHVs) are generally considered host specific and to have codiverged with their hosts over millions of years. This tenet is challenged here by broad-scale phylogenetic analysis of two viral genes using the largest sample of mammalian γHVs to date, integrating for the first time bat γHV sequences available from public repositories and newly generated viral sequences from two vampire bat species (Desmodus rotundus and Diphylla ecaudata). Bat and primate viruses frequently represented deep branches within the supported phylogenies and clustered among viruses from distantly related mammalian taxa. Following evolutionary scenario testing, we determined the number of host-switching and cospeciation events. Cross-species transmissions have occurred much more frequently than previously estimated, and most of the transmissions were attributable to bats and primates. We conclude that the evolution of the Gammaherpesvirinae subfamily has been driven by both cross-species transmissions and subsequent cospeciation within specific viral lineages and that the bat and primate orders may have potentially acted as superspreaders to other mammalian taxa throughout evolutionary history.

伽马疱疹病毒属（Gammaherpesviruses，γHVs）通常被认为具有宿主特异性，且与其宿主历经数百万年共同分化进化。本研究通过针对两个病毒基因的大范围系统发育分析，采用迄今为止规模最大的哺乳动物γHVs样本，首次整合了公共数据库中已收录的蝙蝠γHVs序列以及新测序获得的两种吸血蝙蝠（普通吸血蝠*Desmodus rotundus*和毛腿吸血蝠*Diphylla ecaudata*）的病毒序列，从而对这一传统观点提出了挑战。研究发现，蝙蝠源和灵长类源病毒在获得统计学支持的系统发育树中常占据深层分支，并与亲缘关系较远的哺乳动物类群的病毒聚为一类。通过进化场景推演测试，本研究明确了宿主切换与共物种形成事件的数量：跨物种传播事件的发生频率远高于此前的估算，且绝大多数传播事件均归因于蝙蝠和灵长类。本研究最终得出结论：伽马疱疹病毒亚科（Gammaherpesvirinae）的进化由跨物种传播以及特定病毒谱系内的后续共物种形成共同驱动；在进化历程中，蝙蝠目和灵长目或可充当向其他哺乳动物类群传播病毒的超级传播者。