COVDC - Comprehending virome of domestic carnivores): exploring the viral diversity of domestic carnivores and One Health implications
Partecipanti al progetto
- Colitti Barbara (Responsabile)
- Avanzato Daniele (Collaboratore)
Descrizione del progetto
Viruses are the most diverse and abundant biological entity, infecting species from all life’s domains, regularly jumping to new hosts and occasionally causing severe diseases.
Differently from cellular organisms, the genetic information of viruses is stored in DNA or RNA, single or double-stranded. It lacks common genetic markers, such as 16SrDNA (bacteria) or ITS (myocytes), considerably limiting their study. Shotgun metagenomics partially overcomes these limitations by being able to access genomic information of different natures and is currently the gold-standard approach to studying many microbial environments. Although virome analysis is still challenging, bioinformatics tools are rapidly
improving.
Domestic carnivores, i.e. dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and cats (Felis catus) are considered the most popular pets worldwide. They share their habitat with humans, increasing the potential risk of transmission of zoonotic pathogens and viruses.
Furthermore, some viruses that infect these animal species are genetically close related to human viruses.
Virus surveillance in wild and domestic animals, such as dogs and cats that are in close contact with humans, using the combination of well-described conventional and molecular methods, could be a crucial tool for monitoring and for rapid characterization of emerging and re-emerging zoonotic viruses, providing a baseline of viral diversity and circulation, helpful in dealing with future infectious emergencies.
COVDC project will explore virome diversity in Italian domestic carnivores’ species, assess novel biological and molecular diagnostic platforms, and promote the training of young researchers and correct scientific information on viromes.