{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]],"date-time":"2026-02-10T18:22:50Z","timestamp":1770747770337,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]],"date-time":"2026-02-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770681600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Bats are natural reservoirs for\n                      <jats:italic>Orthohepadnaviruses<\/jats:italic>\n                      , but the diversity and evolution of bat hepatitis B viruses (BtHBVs) and their co-infection with bat hepatitis D virus (BtHDV) in China remain poorly understood.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      In a molecular survey of bats from Yunnan Province, we detected BtHBV in 36.86% (129\/350) of the samples, showing a notably high prevalence in\n                      <jats:italic>Hipposideros pomona<\/jats:italic>\n                      (41.75%). BtHDV co-infection was observed in 1.14% of BtHBV-positive bats.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Genomic analysis of 18 BtHBV isolates revealed that all belong to the bat-specific\n                      <jats:italic>Orthohepadnavirus<\/jats:italic>\n                      Lineage V (BtHBV-7), yet exhibit measurable genetic divergence. We also characterized a highly divergent bat HDV strain, BtHDV-YNNJ49, which clusters within a distinct bat-associated deltavirus lineage but displays substantial genetic divergence from its closest relative, underscoring diversity within this lineage.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Collectively, our findings suggest that bats in Yunnan, particularly\n                      <jats:italic>H. pomona<\/jats:italic>\n                      , may act as natural hosts for both BtHBV and BtHDV. The identification of this divergent BtHDV strain expands our understanding of the genetic diversity and evolution of deltaviruses.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2026.1763204","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]],"date-time":"2026-02-10T07:04:15Z","timestamp":1770707055000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Molecular characterization of bat HBV and identification of HDV co-infection in Yunnan, China"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Yushan","family":"Kui","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology","place":["Kunming, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jiale","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology","place":["Kunming, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yuting","family":"Ning","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology","place":["Kunming, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yutong","family":"Hou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology","place":["Kunming, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lulu","family":"Deng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology","place":["Kunming, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Binghui","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Public Health and Biosafety, School of Public Health, Kunming Medical University","place":["Kunming, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wen","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University","place":["Kunming, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xueshan","family":"Xia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology","place":["Kunming, China"]},{"name":"Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Public Health and Biosafety, School of Public Health, Kunming Medical University","place":["Kunming, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"65","DOI":"10.1016\/j.meegid.2018.06.013","article-title":"Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis delta and Hepatitis B viruses circulating in two major provinces (East and North-West) of Pakistan.","volume":"64","author":"Aftab","year":"2018","journal-title":"Infect. 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