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- All Subjects: Metagenomics
- Creators: Kraberger, Simona
- Creators: Halcomb, Michael Jordan
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Members of the Delphinidae family are widely distributed across the world’s oceans. We used a viral metagenomic approach to identify viruses in orca (Orcinus orca) and short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) muscle, kidney, and liver samples from deceased animals. From orca tissue samples (muscle, kidney, and liver), we identified a novel polyomavirus (Polyomaviridae), three cressdnaviruses, and two genomoviruses (Genomoviridae). In the short-finned pilot whale we were able to identify one genomovirus in a kidney sample. The presence of unclassified cressdnavirus within two samples (muscle and kidney) of the same animal supports the possibility these viruses might be widespread within the animal. The orca polyomavirus identified here is the first of its species and is not closely related to the only other dolphin polyomavirus previously discovered. The identification and verification of these viruses expands the current knowledge of viruses that are associated with the Delphinidae family.
Bats are a highly diverse mammal species with a dense virome and fascinating immune system. The following project utilizes metagenomics in order to identify DNA viruses present in populations of silver-haired bats and Mexican free-tailed bats from southern Arizona. A significant number of DNA viruses and novel viruses were identified in the Cressdnaviricota phylum and Microvirdae family.