Genetic characterization of the Wyeomyia group of orthobunyaviruses and their phylogenetic relationships

Phylogenetic analyses can give new insights into the evolutionary history of viruses, especially of viruses with segmented genomes. However, sequence information for many viral families or genera is still limited and phylogenies based on single or short genome fragments can be misleading. We report the first genetic analysis of all three genome segments of Wyeomyia group viruses Wyeomyia, Taiassui, Macaua, Sororoca, Anhembi and Cachoeira Porteira (BeAr328208) in the genus Orthobunyavirus of the family BUNYAVIRIDAE: In addition, Tucunduba and Iaco viruses were identified as members of the Wyeomyia group. Features of Wyeomyia group members that distinguish them from other viruses in the Bunyamwera serogroup and from other orthobunyaviruses, including truncated NSs sequences that may not counteract the host’s interferon response, were characterized. Our findings also suggest genome reassortment within the Wyeomyia group, identifying Macaua and Tucunduba viruses as M-segment reassortants that, in the case of Tucunduba virus, may have altered pathogenicity, stressing the need for whole-genome sequence information to facilitate characterization of orthobunyaviruses and their phylogenetic relationships.