Detection of human feces pecovirus in newly diagnosed HIV patients in Brazil

Circular single stranded DNA viruses (CRESS DNA) encoding a homologous replication-associated protein (REP) have been identified in most of eukaryotic groups. It is not clear yet the role in human diseases or details of the life cycle of these viruses. Recently, much interest has been raised in the evolutionary history of CRESS DNA owing to the increasing number of new sequences obtained by Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) in distinct host species. In this study we describe two full-length CRESS DNA genomes obtained of two newly diagnosed HIV patients from São Paulo State, Brazil. The initial BLASTx search indicated that both sequences (named SP-FFB/2020 and SP-MJMS/2020) are highly similar (98%) to a previous CRESS DNA sequence detected in human fecal sample from Peru in 2016 and designated as pecovirus (Peruvian stool-associated circo-like virus). This study reported for the first time the Human feces pecovirus in the feces of two newly diagnosed HIV patients in Brazil. Our comparative analysis showed that although pecoviruses in South America share an identical genome structure they diverge and form distinct clades. Thus, we suggest the circulation of different species of pecoviruses in Latin America. Nevertheless, further studies must be done to examine the pathogenicity of this virus.