Genome characterization, prevalence and transmission mode of a novel picornavirus associated with the Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Threespine stickleback picornavirus

The complete genome sequence of an RNA virus was assembled from RNA sequencing of virus particles isolated from Threespine stickleback intestine samples. This new virus is mopst closely related to the Eel Picornavirus and can be assigned to the genus Potamipivirus in the family Picornoviridae. Its unique genetic properties are sufficient to establish a new species, dubbed the Threespine stickleback picornavirus (TSPV). Due to their broad geographic distribution throughout the northern hemisphere and parallel adaptation to freshwater, threespine sticklebacks have become a model in evolutionary ecology. Further analysis using diagnostic PCRs revealed that TSPV is highly prevalent in both anadromous and freshwater populations and is transmitted vertically to offspring obtained from in vitro fertilization in laboratory settings. It is thus necessary to test the impact of TSPV on the biology of threespine sticklebacks as they could interfere with the behavioral, physiological or immunological studies that employ this fish as model system.