The Vampire Bat Virome: Evolutionary Implications in an Immunological Context

监测野生动物是发现可能对人类和其他动物构成健康风险的人畜共患病毒的一项重要战略。最近在不同的蝙蝠物种中发现了几种病毒，其中许多具有医学意义，例如SARS。然而，病毒监测研究仅在食虫或食果蝙蝠中进行，并且主要局限于描述病毒的存在或不存在。人们对普通吸血蝙蝠——圆齿蝠的病毒流行病学和多样性知之甚少。吸血蝙蝠的摄食行为涉及身体与其食物源的密切接触，这可能通过交换体液提供病原体传播的直接途径；因此，它代表了一种新颖而重要的研究模式。分子和系统发育分析表明宿主病毒共同进化和频繁的跨物种传播事件。众所周知，流行病学和进化过程之间的相互作用可能驱动病原体在宿主或种群中的时空发病率。相反，历史上病原相互作用导致宿主的共适应可以通过分子特征来检测，这些分子特征有助于形成免疫受体的结构和遗传多样性。在哺乳动物物种中，病毒首先被先天免疫系统通过模式识别受体（PRRs）感知，例如Toll样受体（TLRs）。tlr系统发育反映了一个物种的自然历史，但也可能定义免疫亚群。在tlr中，snp和在选择压力下进化的位点与野生动物的特定感染之间存在相关性，表明tlr的遗传变异在很大程度上受病原体相互作用的影响。因此，tlr是研究病毒宿主系统动力学的一个很好的模型。我们假设吸血蝙蝠携带具有人畜共患潜力的非规范病毒株。此外，将在病毒分类群和病毒感知先天免疫tlr中检测到分子特征，揭示特定的病毒宿主相互作用共同进化模式。因此，本研究的目的是揭示来自墨西哥的自由放生吸血蝙蝠样本种群的病毒组，并表征吸血蝙蝠参与病毒传感的tlr。此外，我们将通过使用分子进化方法在系统动力学背景下整合数据。拟议的项目旨在利用最先进的技术，为新出现的人畜共患疾病和野生动物监测领域做出创新贡献。这项工作将直接有利于德国和我们的合作国家墨西哥，因为它涉及双向科学交流，所获得的知识可能对拉丁美洲和欧洲的公共卫生和兽医卫生以及保护生物学研究具有重要意义。

Surveillance of wildlife is an important strategy for detecting viruses with zoonotic potential that represent a health risk both for humans and for other animals. Several viruses have been recently characterized in different bat species and many of these have medical importance, such as SARS. However, viral surveillance studies have been carried out only in insectivorous or fruit eating bats and have been mainly restricted on describing absence or presence of viruses. Little is known about the viral epidemiology and diversity among the common vampire bat, Desmodus rotundus. The vampire bat feeding behavior involves close body contact with its food source, which could provide a direct route of pathogen transmission via exchanged body fluids; therefore, it represents a novel and important study model. Molecular and phylogenetic analysis suggests host virus co evolution and frequent cross species transmission events. It is known that interaction between epidemiological and evolutionary processes may drive a pathogens spatiotemporal incidence within a host or population. Reversely, historical pathogen interactions that have led to co adaptation in a host may be detected by molecular signatures that have contributed in the shaping of the structural and genetic diversity of immune receptors. In mammalian species, viruses are first sensed by the innate immune system by pattern recognition receptors, PRRs, such as Toll like receptors, TLRs. TLRs phylogenies reflect the natural history of a species, but may also define immune sub populations. A correlation between SNPs and sites evolving under selective pressure in TLRs and specific infections in wildlife has been detected, showning that genetic variation at TLRs is largely influenced by pathogen interactions. Thus, TLRs are an excellent model for viral host phylodynamic studies. We hypothesize that vampire bats carry a repertoire of non canonical viral strains with zoonotic potential. Moreover, molecular signatures will be detected both in viral taxa and in the viral sensing innate immune TLRs, revealing specific viral host interaction co evolutionary patterns. Therefore, the aims of this study are to uncover the virome of a sample population of free ranging vampire bats from Mexico and to characterize the vampire bat TLRs involved in viral sensing. Further, we will integrate the data in a phylodynamic context, by using molecular evolutionary approaches. The proposed project intends to make innovating contributions to the fields of emerging zoonotic diseases and wildlife surveillance using state of the art technology. This work will be of direct benefit both to Germany and to our collaborating country Mexico, as it involves bidirectional scientific exchange and the knowledge gained could be of significance to public and veterinary health as well as conservation biology research both in Latin America and in Europe.