Abstract:
Recently a number of novel adenoviruses have been isolated from diverse bat species and from diverse
geographical locations. We describe the isolation of a novel adenovirus (Family Adenoviridae, genus
Mastadenovirus) from a pool of liver and spleen tissue of an apparently healthy wild-caught Egyptian
fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) in South Africa. Genetically the virus is most closely related to four
mastadenoviruses recently isolated in China, from Miniopterus schreibersi and Rousettus leschenaultii
bats, which are highly divergent from previously identified bat adenoviruses. The length of the
Rousettus aegyptiacus adenovirus-3085 (RaegAdV-3085) genome, at 29,342 bp is similar to its closest
relatives, and contains 27 open reading frames. The RaegAdV-3085 genome has a low G + C content
(36.4%) relative to other viruses in the genus (between 43.6 and 63.9%) but similar to its closest
relatives. The inverted terminal repeat (ITR) of RaegAdV-3085 is only 40 bp compared to between 61
and 178 bp of its closest relatives. The discovery of RaegAdV-3085 expands the diversity of known
adenoviruses in bats and might represent a member of a new mastadenovirus species in bats.
