Discovery of Novel Crustacean and Cephalopod Flaviviruses: Insights into the Evolution and Circulation of Flaviviruses between Marine Invertebrate and Vertebrate Hosts

Abstract

Most described flaviviruses (family Flaviviridae) are disease-causing pathogens of vertebrates maintained in zoonotic cycles between mosquitoes or ticks and vertebrate hosts. Poor sampling of flaviviruses outside vector-borne flaviviruses such as Zika virus and dengue virus has presented a narrow understanding of flavivirus diversity and evolution. In this study, we discovered three crustacean flaviviruses (Gammarus chevreuxi flavivirus, Gammarus pulex flavivirus, and Crangon crangon flavivirus) and two cephalopod flaviviruses (Southern Pygmy squid flavivirus and Firefly squid flavivirus). Bayesian and maximum likelihood phylogenetic methods demonstrate that crustacean flaviviruses form a well-supported clade and share a more closely related ancestor with terrestrial vector-borne flaviviruses than with classical insect-specific flaviviruses. In addition, we identify variants of Wenzhou shark flavivirus in multiple gazami crab (Portunus trituberculatus) populations, with active replication supported by evidence of an active RNA interference response. This suggests that Wenzhou shark flavivirus moves horizontally between sharks and gazami crabs in ocean ecosystems. Analyses of the mono- and dinucleotide composition of marine flaviviruses compared to that of flaviviruses with known host status suggest that some marine flaviviruses share a nucleotide bias similar to that of vector-borne flaviviruses. Furthermore, we identify crustacean flavivirus endogenous viral elements that are closely related to elements of terrestrial vector-borne flaviviruses. Taken together, these data provide evidence of flaviviruses circulating between marine vertebrates and invertebrates, expand our understanding of flavivirus host range, and offer potential insights into the evolution and emergence of terrestrial vector-borne flaviviruses. IMPORTANCE Some flaviviruses are known to cause disease in vertebrates and are typically transmitted by blood-feeding arthropods such as ticks and mosquitoes. While an ever-increasing number of insect-specific flaviviruses have been described, we have a narrow understanding of flavivirus incidence and evolution. To expand this understanding, we discovered a number of novel flaviviruses that infect a range of crustaceans and cephalopod hosts. Phylogenetic analyses of these novel marine flaviviruses suggest that crustacean flaviviruses share a close ancestor to all terrestrial vector-borne flaviviruses, and squid flaviviruses are the most divergent of all known flaviviruses to date. Additionally, our results indicate horizontal transmission of a marine flavivirus between crabs and sharks. Taken together, these data suggest that flaviviruses move horizontally between invertebrates and vertebrates in ocean ecosystems. This study demonstrates that flavivirus invertebrate-vertebrate host associations have arisen in flaviviruses at least twice and may potentially provide insights into the emergence or origin of terrestrial vector-borne flaviviruses.