Discovery of Novel Herpes Simplexviruses in Wild Gorillas, Bonobos, and Chimpanzees Supports Zoonotic Origin of HSV-2

Joel O. Wertheim; Reilly Hostager; Diane Ryu; Kevin Merkel; Samuel Angedakin; Mimi Arandjelovic; Emmanuel Ayuk Ayimisin; Fred Babweteera; Mattia Bessone; Kathryn J. Brun-Jeffery; Paula Dieguez; Winnie Eckardt; Barbara Fruth; Ilka Herbinger; Sorrel Jones; Hjalmar Kuehl; Kevin E. Langergraber; Kevin Lee; Nadege F. Madinda; Sonja Metzger; Lucy Jayne Ormsby; Martha M. Robbins; Volker Sommer; Tara Stoinski; Erin G. Wessling; Roman M. Wittig; Yisa Ginath Yuh; Fabian H. Leendertz; Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer

doi:10.1093/molbev/msab072

Discovery of Novel Herpes Simplexviruses in Wild Gorillas, Bonobos, and Chimpanzees Supports Zoonotic Origin of HSV-2

Joel O. Wertheim, Reilly Hostager, Diane Ryu, Kevin Merkel, Samuel Angedakin, Mimi Arandjelovic, Emmanuel Ayuk Ayimisin, Fred Babweteera, Mattia Bessone, Kathryn J. Brun-Jeffery, Paula Dieguez, Winnie Eckardt, Barbara Fruth, Ilka Herbinger, Sorrel Jones, Hjalmar Kuehl, Kevin E. Langergraber, Kevin Lee, Nadege F. Madinda, Sonja MetzgerLucy Jayne Ormsby, Martha M. Robbins, Volker Sommer, Tara Stoinski, Erin G. Wessling, Roman M. Wittig, Yisa Ginath Yuh, Fabian H. Leendertz, Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer

Human Evolution and Social Change, School of (SHESC)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

Viruses closely related to human pathogens can reveal the origins of human infectious diseases. Human herpes simplexvirus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) are hypothesized to have arisen via host-virus codivergence and cross-species transmission. We report the discovery of novel herpes simplexviruses during a large-scale screening of fecal samples from wild gorillas, bonobos, and chimpanzees. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that, contrary to expectation, simplexviruses from these African apes are all more closely related to HSV-2 than to HSV-1. Molecular clock-based hypothesis testing suggests the divergence between HSV-1 and the African great ape simplexviruses likely represents a codivergence event between humans and gorillas. The simplexviruses infecting African great apes subsequently experienced multiple cross-species transmission events over the past 3 My, the most recent of which occurred between humans and bonobos around 1 Ma. These findings revise our understanding of the origins of human herpes simplexviruses and suggest that HSV-2 is one of the earliest zoonotic pathogens.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2818-2830
Number of pages	13
Journal	Molecular biology and evolution
Volume	38
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msab072
State	Published - Jul 1 2021

Keywords

ape
herpesvirus
molecular clock
phylogenetics
zoonosis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Molecular Biology
Genetics

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10.1093/molbev/msab072

Cite this

Wertheim, J. O., Hostager, R., Ryu, D., Merkel, K., Angedakin, S., Arandjelovic, M., Ayimisin, E. A., Babweteera, F., Bessone, M., Brun-Jeffery, K. J., Dieguez, P., Eckardt, W., Fruth, B., Herbinger, I., Jones, S., Kuehl, H., Langergraber, K. E., Lee, K., Madinda, N. F., ... Calvignac-Spencer, S. (2021). Discovery of Novel Herpes Simplexviruses in Wild Gorillas, Bonobos, and Chimpanzees Supports Zoonotic Origin of HSV-2. Molecular biology and evolution, 38(7), 2818-2830. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msab072

Wertheim, JO, Hostager, R, Ryu, D, Merkel, K, Angedakin, S, Arandjelovic, M, Ayimisin, EA, Babweteera, F, Bessone, M, Brun-Jeffery, KJ, Dieguez, P, Eckardt, W, Fruth, B, Herbinger, I, Jones, S, Kuehl, H, Langergraber, KE, Lee, K, Madinda, NF, Metzger, S, Ormsby, LJ, Robbins, MM, Sommer, V, Stoinski, T, Wessling, EG, Wittig, RM, Yuh, YG, Leendertz, FH & Calvignac-Spencer, S 2021, 'Discovery of Novel Herpes Simplexviruses in Wild Gorillas, Bonobos, and Chimpanzees Supports Zoonotic Origin of HSV-2', Molecular biology and evolution, vol. 38, no. 7, pp. 2818-2830. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msab072

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abstract = "Viruses closely related to human pathogens can reveal the origins of human infectious diseases. Human herpes simplexvirus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) are hypothesized to have arisen via host-virus codivergence and cross-species transmission. We report the discovery of novel herpes simplexviruses during a large-scale screening of fecal samples from wild gorillas, bonobos, and chimpanzees. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that, contrary to expectation, simplexviruses from these African apes are all more closely related to HSV-2 than to HSV-1. Molecular clock-based hypothesis testing suggests the divergence between HSV-1 and the African great ape simplexviruses likely represents a codivergence event between humans and gorillas. The simplexviruses infecting African great apes subsequently experienced multiple cross-species transmission events over the past 3 My, the most recent of which occurred between humans and bonobos around 1 Ma. These findings revise our understanding of the origins of human herpes simplexviruses and suggest that HSV-2 is one of the earliest zoonotic pathogens.",

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AU - Merkel, Kevin

AU - Angedakin, Samuel

AU - Arandjelovic, Mimi

AU - Ayimisin, Emmanuel Ayuk

AU - Babweteera, Fred

AU - Bessone, Mattia

AU - Brun-Jeffery, Kathryn J.

AU - Dieguez, Paula

AU - Eckardt, Winnie

AU - Fruth, Barbara

AU - Herbinger, Ilka

AU - Jones, Sorrel

AU - Kuehl, Hjalmar

AU - Langergraber, Kevin E.

AU - Lee, Kevin

AU - Madinda, Nadege F.

AU - Metzger, Sonja

AU - Ormsby, Lucy Jayne

AU - Robbins, Martha M.

AU - Sommer, Volker

AU - Stoinski, Tara

AU - Wessling, Erin G.

AU - Wittig, Roman M.

AU - Yuh, Yisa Ginath

AU - Leendertz, Fabian H.

AU - Calvignac-Spencer, Sébastien

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Discovery of Novel Herpes Simplexviruses in Wild Gorillas, Bonobos, and Chimpanzees Supports Zoonotic Origin of HSV-2

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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