Bats have been implicated as important reservoir hosts of alpha- and betacoronaviruses. In this study, diverse coronaviruses(CoVs) were detected in 50 of 951(positive rate 5.3%) intestinal specimens of eight bat species collected in four provinces and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China by pan-coronavirus RT-PCR screening. Based on 400-nt RNA-dependent RNA polymerase(Rd RP) sequence analysis, eight belonged to genus Alphacoronavirus and 42 to Betacoronavirus.Among the 50 positive specimens, thirteen gave rise to CoV full-length Rd RP gene amplification for further sequence comparison, of which three divergent sequences(two from a unreported province) were subjected to full genome sequencing. Two complete genomes of betacoronaviruses(JTMC15 and JPDB144) and one nearly-complete genome of alphacoronavirus(JTAC2) were sequenced and their genomic organization predicted. The present study has identified additional numbers of genetically diverse bat-borne coronaviruses with a wide distribution in China. Two new species of bat CoV, identified through sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis, are proposed.
Lin XuFuqiang ZhangWeihong YangTinglei JiangGuanjun LuBiao HeXingyu LiTingsong HuGang ChenYun FengYuzhen ZhangQuanshui FanJiang FengHailin ZhangChangchun Tu
