ABSTRACT
Surveillance of bat betacoronaviruses is crucial for understanding their spillover potential. We isolated bat sarbecoviruses from Rhinolophus cornutus bats in multiple locations in Japan. These viruses grew efficiently in cells expressing R. cornutus angiotensin converting enzyme-2, but not in cells expressing human angiotensin converting enzyme-2, suggesting a narrow host range.
Subject(s)
Chiroptera , Animals , Humans , Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A , Japan/epidemiology , Betacoronavirus , Host SpecificityABSTRACT
Betacoronaviruses, containing sarbecoviruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses (SARS-CoV) and merbecovirus such as Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), caused three human outbreaks in the past 2 decades; in particular, SARS-CoV-2 has caused the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Since the ancestor of betacoronaviruses originated from wild bats, unidentified bat betacoronaviruses are presumed to be transmitted to humans in the future. In this study, we detected novel bat merbecoviruses from Vespertilio sinensis and Eptesicus japonensis, belonging to the family Vespertilionidae, in Japan. We found that these merbecoviruses were phylogenetically most closely related to the those previously detected in China. Alignment of the predicted receptor-binding motif on the spike proteins indicated that the Japanese bat merbecoviruses did not possess the specific amino acid residues that could be responsible for binding of MERS-CoV to the human dipeptidyl peptidase-4 receptor, which is unlikely to infect humans. This study demonstrated that bat merbecoviruses are widely conserved in multiple bat species of Vespertilionidae in East Asia, emphasizing the need for extensive epidemiological and biological studies on bat betacoronaviruses to facilitate the risk assessment of their spillover potential to humans.
ABSTRACT
Epidemiology of bat Betacoronavirus, subgenus Sarbecovirus is largely unknown, especially outside China. We detected a sarbecovirus phylogenetically related to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 from Rhinolophus cornutus bats in Japan. The sarbecovirus' spike protein specifically recognizes angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 of R. cornutus, but not humans, as an entry receptor.