Genomic Variation of the Fibropapilloma-Associated Marine Turtle Herpesvirus across Seven Geographic Areas and Three Host Species

Abstract

Fibropapillomatosis (FP) of marine turtles is an emerging neoplastic disease associated with infection by a novel turtle herpesvirus, fibropapilloma-associated turtle herpesvirus (FPTHV). This report presents 23 kb of the genome of an FPTHV infecting a Hawaiian green turtle ( Chelonia mydas ). By sequence homology, the open reading frames in this contig correspond to herpes simplex virus genes U L 23 through U L 36. The order, orientation, and homology of these putative genes indicate that FPTHV is a member of the Alphaherpesvirinae . The U L 27-, U L 30-, and U L 34-homologous open reading frames from FPTHVs infecting nine FP-affected marine turtles from seven geographic areas and three turtle species ( C. mydas , Caretta caretta , and Lepidochelys olivacea ) were compared. A high degree of nucleotide sequence conservation was found among these virus variants. However, geographic variations were also found: the FPTHVs examined here form four groups, corresponding to the Atlantic Ocean, West pacific, mid-Pacific, and east Pacific. Our results indicate that FPTHV was established in marine turtle populations prior to the emergence of FP as it is currently known.