Discovery and Evolutionary Analysis of a Novel Bat-Borne Paramyxovirus.

Paramyxoviruses are a group of RNA viruses, such as mumps virus, measles virus, Nipah virus, Hendra virus, Newcastle disease virus, and parainfluenza virus, usually transmitted by airborne droplets that are predominantly responsible for acute respiratory diseases. In this paper, we identified a novel paramyxovirus belonging to genus <i>Jeilongvirus</i> infecting 4/112 (3.6%) bats from two trapping sites of Hainan Province of China. In these animals, the viral RNA was detected exclusively in kidney tissues. This is the first full-length <i>Jeilongvirus</i> genome (18,095 nucleotides) from bats of genus <i>Hipposideros</i>, which exhibits a canonical genome organization and encodes SH and TM proteins. Results, based on phylogenic analysis and genetic distances, indicate that the novel paramyxovirus formed an independent lineage belonging to genus <i>Jeilongvirus</i>, representing, thus, a novel species. In addition, the virus-host macro-evolutionary analysis revealed that host-switching was not only a common co-phylogenetic event, but also a potential mechanism by which rats are infected by bat-origin <i>Jeilongvirus</i> through cross-species virus transmission, indicating a bat origin of the genus <i>Jeilongvirus</i>. Overall, our study broadens the viral diversity, geographical distribution, host range, and evolution of genus <i>Jeilongvirus</i>.