Novel astrovirus and paramyxovirus in Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) from China

Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) are small rodents belonging to the family Muridae and widely inhabit typical steppes and desert grasslands across northern China. Yet, few viruses in wild M. unguiculatus have been reported. Using meta-transcriptomic sequencing we identified two novel RNA viruses: an astrovirus, denoted Gerbil astrovirus (GeAstV), and a paramyxovirus – Gerbil paramyxovirus (GePV) in Mongolian gerbils captured during October–November 2018 from one of the plagus zones in Shaanxi Province, China. Phylogenetic analysis based on the amino acid sequences of ORF1a, RdRp and ORF2 revealed that GeAstV clustered with rodent- and porcine-associated astroviruses, sharing the highest amino acid identity of 75.07% with a pig astrovirus in RdRp, while sharing 42.14% and 35.94% amino acid identity with a rodent astrovirus in the deduced ORF1a and ORF2 proteins, respectively, exhibiting apparent recombination and potential cross-species transmission events. For the newly discovered GePV, evolutionary analysis demonstrated that it was closely related to Tailam virus and Beilong virus, and shared 61%–77% identity in the L protein with the seven members of the genus Jeilongvirus. Notably, GeAstV was detected only in lung samples while GePV was positive only in kidney samples. In sum, we demonstrate the presence of two novel gerbil RNA viruses, expanding our understanding of viral diversity in wild Mongolian gerbils.