Virome profile of wild rodents from Yili River Valley of Xinjiang, China
Background: Rodents serve as key natural reservoirs for a diverse array of zoonotic viruses. The Yili River Valley, one of the most biodiverse regions in Xinjiang, functions as a critical terrestrial corridor linking China with Central and Western Asia and Europe. While several studies have examined viral diversity in wild rodents across different regions of China, the virome of this ecologically significant area remains largely unexplored.
Results: Using meta-transcriptomic sequencing and virome analysis, we characterized the viromes of wild rodents collected from the Yili River Valley from 2020 to 2023 and assessed viral distribution across different host species and tissues (liver, lung, spleen, intestine). A total of 19 vertebrate-associated viral families were identified, including those with high zoonotic potential and/or evolutionary significance, such as Arteriviridae, Coronaviridae, Flaviviridae, Hantaviridae, Hepeviridae, Hepadnaviridae, and Picornaviridae. Notably, over 80% of the detected viruses were putative novel species, highlighting the vast and largely unexplored viral diversity in rodents from this region. Viral composition varied significantly among host species, with Microtus obscurus identified as a major reservoir. Additionally, substantial differences in viral distribution were observed across tissue types. The high prevalence of zoonotic viruses, including hantaviruses and hepatitis E virus (HEV), along with the first identification of a PRRSV1-related arterivirus in rodents, underscores the potential risk of cross-species transmission to humans and domestic animals.
Conclusions: This study enhances our understanding of virome composition of rodents in a biodiversity hotspot in Yili, Xinjiang, revealing a substantial yet largely uncharted viral diversity. These findings emphasize the need for continuous surveillance of viruses that may have potential risks of viral spillover to humans and domestic animals, including Arteriviridae, Flaviviridae, Hantaviridae, Hepeviridae, and Hepadnaviridae.
