Abstract:

In recent years, zoonotic diseases have triggered several large-scale outbreaks of infectious diseases, highlighting the critical importance of prevention, detection, and diagnosis of zoonotic infections. The agricultural areas of Qinghai are primarily concentrated in the eastern part of the province, where the habitat of Marmota himalayana partially overlaps with human activity areas. This study employed metagenomic sequencing technology to analyze and compare the composition and diversity of intestinal viruses, and their hosts in Marmota himalayana from six regions in eastern Qinghai’s agricultural areas. The results of the study revealed that the predominant viral families were Caudovirales, Fictiviricetes, and Monodnaviria, with viruses at the order level mainly classified into Microvirales and Circovirales. At the family level, the major viral families were Microviridae and Viphaviridae. Most of the annotated viral genes were associated with protein families involved in genetic information processing, signaling, cellular processes, as well as replication and repair functions. Host prediction predominantly identified Escherichia coli from the Enterobacteriaceae family and Brevibacillus laterosporus from the Bacillaceae family as the main hosts. This study reveals the diversity and regional differences of the virome in Marmota himalayana from the eastern agricultural region of Qinghai, suggesting that certain viral families may exhibit geographic limitations and host specificity, providing a crucial foundation for future viral surveillance and pathogenicity research.

Key words: Marmota himalayana, Intestinal virus, Viral metagenomics, Agricultural region, Eastern Qinghai Province

摘要：

青海农业区主要集中在青海省东部地区，区内旱獭生活区域与人类活动范围有部分交叠。本研究通过宏病毒组测序技术对青海东部农业区6个地区的喜马拉雅旱獭（Marmota himalayana）肠道病毒组成、多样性及其宿主进行比对分析。研究结果可知，病毒以尾噬菌体门、菲克斯病毒门和单环编码病毒门为主，目水平上可分类病毒以微小噬菌体目和圆环样病毒目为主，科水平上可分类病毒以微小噬菌体科和维雅病毒科为主。近60%的病毒基因注释集中在蛋白质家族的遗传信息处理、信号和细胞过程以及复制与修复功能，宿主预测以肠杆菌科埃希氏菌属的大肠杆菌（Escherichia coli）和芽孢杆菌科芽孢杆菌属的侧孢短芽孢杆菌（Brevibacillus laterosporus）为主。本研究揭示了青海东部农业区喜马拉雅旱獭病毒组的多样性及地区差异，提示某些病毒科可能具有地域局限性和宿主特异性，为未来病毒监测和致病性研究提供了重要依据。

关键词: 喜马拉雅旱獭, 肠道病毒, 病毒宏基因组学, 农业区, 青海省东部