Publications by authors named "J A Monros"
Viromics studies are allowing us to understand not only the enormous diversity of the virosphere, but also the potential threat posed by the emerging viruses. Regarding the latter, the main concern lies in monitoring the presence of RNA viruses, but the zoonotic potential of some DNA viruses, on which we have focused in the present study, should also be highlighted. For this purpose, we analyzed 160 fecal samples from 14 species of small terrestrial mammals, 9 of them belonging to the order .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhylogenetic evidence supporting the nonenveloped nature of hepadnavirus ancestors.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
November 2024
Article Synopsis
- - The text discusses the discovery of a new virus found in bat feces that encodes a core protein and reverse transcriptase but lacks an envelope protein, positioning it in the family of nonenveloped viruses known as nackednaviruses.
- - A related viral sequence from permafrost suggests that these two viruses have a unique evolutionary lineage, diverging from hepadnaviruses and nackednaviruses around 500 million years ago.
- - These findings could lead to the identification of a new "proto-nackednavirus" family and support the idea that the ancestors of hepadnaviruses were originally nonenveloped viruses.
Article Synopsis
- Human activities have severely degraded and fragmented habitats globally, yet some carnivores, like the European wildcat, are adapting and coexisting with humans, leading to potential conflicts.
- A study conducted in NW Spain used over 350 wildcat sightings over 17 years to create habitat suitability models based on various environmental and human impact factors.
- Key findings indicate that only a third of suitable areas have confirmed wildcat presence, with elevation and forest density positively influencing their habitat preference, while footpath density negatively affects it, highlighting the need for management strategies to conserve wildcat populations.
Background: Emerging zoonotic diseases arise from cross-species transmission events between wild or domesticated animals and humans, with bats being one of the major reservoirs of zoonotic viruses. Viral metagenomics has led to the discovery of many viruses, but efforts have mainly been focused on some areas of the world and on certain viral families.
Methods: We set out to describe full-length genomes of new picorna-like viruses by collecting feces from hundreds of bats captured in different regions of Spain.
Unlabelled: Bats are natural hosts of multiple viruses, many of which have clear zoonotic potential. The search for emerging viruses has been aided by the implementation of metagenomic tools, which have also enabled the detection of unprecedented viral diversity. Currently, this search is mainly focused on RNA viruses, which are largely over-represented in databases.
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