Virome Profiling of an Amur leopard cat Reveals Multiple Anelloviruses and a Bocaparvovirus

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Wildlife constitutes an essential part of the biodiversity on our planet. However, many factors put numerous species at the risk of extinction, among which infectious diseases are largely neglected. In this study, we report a pan-virome profiling of a rescue-failed Amur leopard cat. The results revealed abundant bacteriophages and multiple mammalian viruses, i.e., anelloviruses and a bocaparvovirus, in various organs of the animal, but no RNA viruses. Although the pathogenicity of anellovirus and bocaparvovirus is unknown, they showed very close phylogenetic relationships with other feline viruses, suggesting the circulation of certain viruses among domestic and wild felines. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing the virus diversity harbored by Amur leopard cats, which helps to understand the interaction of viruses between domestic animals and wildlife. ABSTRACT: As a small top predator, Amur leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis euptilurus) is widely distributed in northeast Asia and plays an important role in the control of small rodent populations and in the maintenance of ecological equilibrium. However, the viruses harbored by this creature have been rarely investigated. Here, we report the DNA and RNA eukaryotic virome profiling of an injured Amur leopard cat followed by PCR validation, which revealed diverse anelloviruses in multiple organs and a bocaparvovirus in the lymph, but no RNA viruses. These anelloviruses have diverse genomic structures and are classified into four phylogroups with viruses of various felines, while the bocaparvovirus is extremely similar to those recovered from diarrheal domestic cats, illustrating the transmission of the virus between domestic animals and wildlife. These data provide the first insight into the genetic diversity of Amur leopard cat viruses, highlighting the need for further investigation of wild animals.