Surveillance study reveals diverse betacoronaviruses and frequent recombination in wild mice, indicating low barriers to cross-species transmission.
Key Points
To investigate the prevalence, genomic diversity, and evolutionary dynamics of betacoronaviruses circulating in wild rodents and other small terrestrial mammals.
Surveyed wild rodents and eulipotyphlans across Ontario, Canada, to detect betacoronavirus species.
Recovered whole Peromyscus coronavirus (PCoV) genomes and performed phylogenetic, recombination, and spike glycoprotein structural binding analyses.
Detected four betacoronavirus species across multiple host species, identifying at least three distinct PCoV genotypes generated via recombination with other Betacoronavirus gravedinis lineages.
Identified high structural similarity in predicted sialoglycan-binding sites on the spike glycoprotein across PCoV, human coronavirus OC43, and bovine coronavirus.