Murine Cytomegalovirus in wild populations of the European house mouse hybrid zone
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| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | Murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) is a common herpesvirus of the house mouse, which is thoroughly studied under laboratory conditions. MCMV shares many features with human cytomegalovirus (e.g. virion structure, ability to establish persistent or latent infection) and therefore serves as a frequently used animal model. Most investigations are focused on laboratory strains of MCMV (Smith, HaNa 1) and various laboratory strains of mice. In contrast, little is known about the biology of MCMV in wild-living house mouse populations. Two taxa of house mice, Mus musculus musculus (Mmm) and Mus musculus domesticus (Mmd) meet and hybridize along a 2500 km long front streching from Scandinavia to the Black Sea and form a tension hybrid zone (the house mouse hybrid zone, HMHZ). A preliminary study showed that each mouse taxon harbours different MCMV strains that have likely co-diverged with their hosts. The goal of our study was to investigate the biology of MCMV infections in wild mice and how the viral load changes across the host hybrid zone. House mouse tissues (of both subspecies) were collected across the Bavarian-Bohemian transect of the HMHZ in 2014. MCMV load measurement using specific quantitative PCR assay was performed in four different organs (lungs, kidneys, spleen and salivary glands) for a subset of 64 individuals (29 Mmd and 35 Mmm). The highest quantities of viral DNA were observed in the salivary glands and the preliminary results showed significant difference of MCMV load in the salivary glands and kidneys of domesticus compare to musculus taxa. |
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