Infection of neotropical non-human primates with bat deltaviruses
- 1Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
Abstract
Background & Aims: The origin of hepatitis D virus (HDV) and related deltaviruses remains elusive. Contrarily, hepatitis B virus, HDV's helper virus, and related hepadnaviruses display long-term association with primates. Current data suggest cross-order host shifts as a common mechanism in deltavirus ecology, but corroborative evidence is lacking. Here, we aimed to elucidate the genealogy of primate deltaviruses. Methods: We screened 961 non-human primate (NHP) liver specimens obtained in Brazil between 2017-2023 for deltaviruses and hepadnaviruses. Complete deltaviral genomes were obtained via overlapping nested RT-PCR, cloned, expressed in vitro and analyzed via immunoblot and immunofluorescence analysis. Anti-deltaviral antibodies in NHP and vampire bats were detected via immunofluorescence analysis. Results: We detected deltaviruses in two NHP. Complete deltaviral genomes exhibited common features including high self-complementarity, genomic and antigenomic ribozymes, and a delta antigen open reading frame. NHP deltaviruses were phylogenetically related to viruses found in common vampire bats. The NHP deltaviruses replicated in vitro without the expression of a large delta antigen. We did not detect anti-deltaviral antibodies in NHP sera (0/249), in contrast to sera from common vampire bats (7/112; 6.2%, 95% CI: 1.8-10.7), indicating viral circulation in bats. Ancestral state reconstruction suggested a bat origin of NHP deltaviruses. Targeted screening excluded a coinfecting hepadnavirus in the deltavirus-positive animals but led to the discovery of a hepadnavirus, corroborating a non-recent introduction of hepadnaviruses into the primate stem-lineage. Conclusions: Our data are consistent with deltaviral cross-order host shifts and suggestive of the susceptibility of primates to reservoir-bound deltaviruses, lending credibility to a zoonotic origin of HDV.
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BibTeX
@misc{lehmann2026infection,
title = {{Infection of neotropical non-human primates with bat deltaviruses}},
author = {F. Lehmann and A. Moreira-Soto and M. A. Mares-Guia and A. Alfaro-Alarcon and C. V. Molina and I. O. Carneiro and B. F. d. C. D. Souza and A. J. B. Carneiro and G. Hernandez-Mora and D. Glebe and A. C. d. A. Campos and C. R. Franke and E. L. Durigon and A. M. Bispo de Filippis and J. F. Drexler},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.02.747548},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.747548v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Infection of neotropical non-human primates with bat deltaviruses
AU - F. Lehmann
AU - A. Moreira-Soto
AU - M. A. Mares-Guia
AU - A. Alfaro-Alarcon
AU - C. V. Molina
AU - I. O. Carneiro
AU - B. F. d. C. D. Souza
AU - A. J. B. Carneiro
AU - G. Hernandez-Mora
AU - D. Glebe
AU - A. C. d. A. Campos
AU - C. R. Franke
AU - E. L. Durigon
AU - A. M. Bispo de Filippis
AU - J. F. Drexler
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/02
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.02.747548
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.747548v1
AB - Background & Aims: The origin of hepatitis D virus (HDV) and related deltaviruses remains elusive. Contrarily, hepatitis B virus, HDV's helper virus, and related hepadnaviruses display long-term association with primates. Current data suggest cross-order host shifts as a common mechanism in deltavirus ecology, but corroborative evidence is lacking. Here, we aimed to elucidate the genealogy of primate deltaviruses. Methods: We screened 961 non-human primate (NHP) liver specimens obtained in Brazil between 2017-2023 for deltaviruses and hepadnaviruses. Complete deltaviral genomes were obtained via overlapping nested RT-PCR, cloned, expressed in vitro and analyzed via immunoblot and immunofluorescence analysis. Anti-deltaviral antibodies in NHP and vampire bats were detected via immunofluorescence analysis. Results: We detected deltaviruses in two NHP. Complete deltaviral genomes exhibited common features including high self-complementarity, genomic and antigenomic ribozymes, and a delta antigen open reading frame. NHP deltaviruses were phylogenetically related to viruses found in common vampire bats. The NHP deltaviruses replicated in vitro without the expression of a large delta antigen. We did not detect anti-deltaviral antibodies in NHP sera (0/249), in contrast to sera from common vampire bats (7/112; 6.2%, 95% CI: 1.8-10.7), indicating viral circulation in bats. Ancestral state reconstruction suggested a bat origin of NHP deltaviruses. Targeted screening excluded a coinfecting hepadnavirus in the deltavirus-positive animals but led to the discovery of a hepadnavirus, corroborating a non-recent introduction of hepadnaviruses into the primate stem-lineage. Conclusions: Our data are consistent with deltaviral cross-order host shifts and suggestive of the susceptibility of primates to reservoir-bound deltaviruses, lending credibility to a zoonotic origin of HDV.
ER -