人乳头瘤病毒（PVs）可导致人类、哺乳动物和非哺乳动物的皮肤和粘膜组织增生，并是宫颈癌和生殖系统癌症的重要危险因素。利用新一代测序（NGS），我们在青岛和大连极地海洋公园采集的白鲸（Delphinapterus leucas）拭子中鉴定了两株新的乳头瘤病毒菌株，分别命名为PV-HMU-1和PV-HMU-2。我们扩增了这两株病毒的完整基因组，并对十只白鲸和一只虚伪虎头鲸（Pseudorca crassidens）的晚期基因（L1）进行了筛查，以确定感染率。在青岛，两只样本中的50%白鲸感染了PV-HMU-1，虚伪虎头鲸呈阴性。在大连，八只样本中的71%白鲸感染了PV-HMU-2。在其L1基因中，PV-HMU-1和PV-HMU-2与乳头瘤病毒科其他成员的氨基酸序列相似性分别为64.99%和68.12%。通过组合氨基酸序列的系统发生分析显示，PV-HMU-1和PV-HMU-2与其他已知海豚乳头瘤病毒聚类在一起，但形成独立的分支。白鲸携带的乳头瘤病毒被认定为Firstpapillomavirinae下的新物种。这两株新的乳头瘤病毒的发现丰富了我们对乳头瘤病毒的遗传多样性及其对白鲸群体的影响的认识。 © 2023 Li, Xiao, Zhang, Li, Bai, Su, Peng, Wang, Hu, Song, Li, Tang, Lu, Yin, Zhang and Du.

Papillomaviruses (PVs) can cause hyperplasia in the skin and mucous membranes of humans, mammals, and non-mammalian animals, and are a significant risk factor for cervical and genital cancers.Using next-generation sequencing (NGS), we identified two novel strains of papillomavirus, PV-HMU-1 and PV-HMU-2, in swabs taken from belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) at Polar Ocean Parks in Qingdao and Dalian.We amplified the complete genomes of both strains and screened ten belugas and one false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) for the late gene (L1) to determine the infection rate. In Qingdao, 50% of the two sampled belugas were infected with PV-HMU-1, while the false killer whale was negative. In Dalian, 71% of the eight sampled belugas were infected with PV-HMU-2. In their L1 genes, PV-HMU-1 and PV-HMU-2 showed 64.99 and 68.12% amino acid identity, respectively, with other members of Papillomaviridae. Phylogenetic analysis of combinatorial amino acid sequences revealed that PV-HMU-1 and PV-HMU-2 clustered with other known dolphin PVs but formed distinct branches. PVs carried by belugas were proposed as novel species under Firstpapillomavirinae.The discovery of these two novel PVs enhances our understanding of the genetic diversity of papillomaviruses and their impact on the beluga population.Copyright © 2023 Li, Xiao, Zhang, Li, Bai, Su, Peng, Wang, Hu, Song, Li, Tang, Lu, Yin, Zhang and Du.