Key result
A novel picornavirus, Pingu virus, was detected in 12.9% of cloacal swabs from gentoo penguins in Antarctica, but not in adélie or chinstrap penguins.
Why the study?
Picornaviruses have a broad host range across all continents, but their presence in penguins from Antarctica had not been established.
The discovery of Pingu virus in gentoo penguins expands the known viral diversity, host range, and geographical distribution of the Picornaviridae family.
First detection of picornavirus in gentoo penguins; extends Picornaviridae host range and geographic distribution.
Picornaviridae family comprises single-stranded, positive-sense RNA viruses distributed into forty-seven genera. Picornaviruses have a broad host range and geographic distribution in all continents. In this study, we applied a high-throughput sequencing approach to examine the presence of picornaviruses in penguins from King George Island, Antarctica. We discovered and characterized a novel picornavirus from cloacal swab samples of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua), which we tentatively named Pingu virus. Also, using RT-PCR we detected this virus in 12.9 per cent of cloacal swabs derived from P. papua, but not in samples from adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) or chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarcticus). Attempts to isolate the virus in a chicken cell line and in embryonated chicken eggs were unsuccessful. Our results expand the viral diversity, host range, and geographical distribution of the Picornaviridae.
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Souza et al. (2019) studied Picornavirus infection. Pingu virus was evaluated on Detection of Pingu virus by RT-PCR. A novel picornavirus, Pingu virus, was detected in 12.9% of cloacal swabs from gentoo penguins in Antarctica, but not in adélie or chinstrap penguins.
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