Analysis of a novel RNA virus in a wild northern white-breasted hedgehog (Erinaceus roumanicus)

Tombusviruses are generally considered plant viruses. A novel tombus-/carmotetravirus-like RNA virus was identified in a faecal sample and blood and muscle tissues from a wild northern white-breasted hedgehog (Erinaceus roumanicus). The complete genome of the virus, called H14-hedgehog/2015/HUN (GenBank accession number MN044446), is 4,118 nucleotides in length with a readthrough stop codon of type/group 1 in ORF1 and lacks a poly(A) tract at the 3′ end. The predicted ORF1-RT (RdRp) and the capsid proteins had low (31-33%) amino acid sequence identity to unclassified tombus-/noda-like viruses (Hubei tombus-like virus 12 and Beihai noda-like virus 10), respectively, discovered recently in invertebrate animals. An in vivo experimental plant inoculation study showed that an in vitro-transcribed H14-hedgehog/2015/HUN viral RNA did not replicate in Nicotiana benthamiana, Chenopodium quinoa, or Chenopodium murale, the most susceptible hosts for plant-origin tombusviruses.