Coronaviruses in diarrheic pigeons and the first determination of the complete genome of a new pigeon gammacoronavirus.

Publication date: May 31, 2025

Members of Orthocoronavirinae subfamily are common among avian species and responsible for diseases in poultry. Unfortunately, knowledge of their diversity and potential pathogenic influence in pigeons is so far scarce. This study describes the first determination of a complete genomic sequence of a member of Gammacoronavirus genus in pigeons, likely representing new species within the Igacovirus subgenus. The newly obtained sequence appears to be closely related to partial gammacoronavirus sequences identified in pigeons from Poland, Spain, Finland and China, which highlights the wide geographical distribution of this virus. Direct quantitative analysis was performed in sampled pigeons to assess the potential connection of the presence of the virus and the occurrence of enteric disease, and while no statistically significant difference in the viral genome copy numbers was found between the diseased and healthy group, the similar detection rate in both groups is noteworthy. This result obtained from the analysis of 153 cloacal swab samples suggests that the presence of the virus likely is not associated with the occurrence of disease in their host. The study accentuates the need to further study the coronaviruses of avian origin especially considering the seemingly often occurrence of asymptomatic coronaviral infections and their broad geographical distribution.

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Concepts Keywords
China Complete genome
Diseased Coronavirus
Finland ddPCR
Gammacoronavirus Gammacoronavirus
Poultry Oxford nanopore sequencing
Phylogenetic analysis
Pigeon

Semantics

Type Source Name
disease IDO host
disease MESH infections
disease IDO infection
disease MESH Poultry Diseases
drug DRUGBANK Coenzyme M
disease IDO bacteria
disease IDO nucleic acid
pathway REACTOME Release
drug DRUGBANK Amino acids

Original Article

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