{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,24]],"date-time":"2025-12-24T12:27:19Z","timestamp":1766579239495,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,10]],"date-time":"2025-07-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1752105600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"LIFE","award":["LIFE20 GIE\/ES\/000,731","4757\/2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LIFE20 GIE\/ES\/000,731","4757\/2017"]}]},{"name":"Fundo Florestal Permanente (Government of Portugal)","award":["LIFE20 GIE\/ES\/000,731","4757\/2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LIFE20 GIE\/ES\/000,731","4757\/2017"]}]},{"name":"Interdisciplinary Research Center on Animal Health (CIISA), I-MVET, and CECAV (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidade Lus\u00f3fona))","award":["LIFE20 GIE\/ES\/000,731","4757\/2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LIFE20 GIE\/ES\/000,731","4757\/2017"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>To date, five herpesviruses have been identified in Leporidae (LeHV-1, LeHV-2, LeHV-3, LeHV-4, and LeHV-5). Two of these have been shown to infect the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), causing either asymptomatic infection (LeHV-2, a gammaherpesvirus) or virulent disease (LeHV-4, an alphaherpesvirus). Unfortunately, apart from LeHV-4, for which complete genome sequences are available, molecular data on leporid herpesviruses are extremely limited, with no sequences available in public databases for LeHV-1 and LeHV-3, and only a few short sequences for LeHV-2 and LeHV-5. In this study, we investigated the presence of herpesviruses in biological samples from wild rabbits (n = 34) found dead in the field during 2024. A pan-herpesvirus nested PCR directed to the herpesviral DNA polymerase gene was used for screening. Positive samples (n = 14, 41.17%) were further investigated by sequencing analysis of a longer region of the DNA polymerase gene, as well as the glycoprotein B gene and the terminase gene. Blastn analysis of the amplicons revealed the highest similarity to gammaherpesvirus. Phylogenetic analyses based on glycoprotein B, DNA polymerase, and concatenated amino acid sequences consistently placed the newly identified LeHV-6 in close proximity to LeHV-5. Both viruses form a well-supported clade within the Gammaherpesvirinae, clustering with rodent-associated herpesviruses, such as Murine herpesvirus, MuHV-4, and A. sylvaticus rhadinovirus 1. Considering the species susceptibility and the nucleotide similarities with the five previously described leporid herpesviruses, we conclude that a new rabbit gammaherpesvirus has been identified, which we propose to name LeHV-6.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v17070967","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,11]],"date-time":"2025-07-11T15:19:31Z","timestamp":1752247171000},"page":"967","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Molecular Identification and Characterization of a Novel Gammaherpesvirus in Wild Rabbits"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0696-7322","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"F\u00e1bio A.","family":"Abade dos Santos","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o Agr\u00e1ria e Veterin\u00e1ria, Av. da Rep\u00fablica, Quinta do Marqu\u00eas, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal"},{"name":"I-MVET, Faculdade de Medicina, Veterin\u00e1ria de Lisboa, Centro Universit\u00e1rio de Lisboa, Universidade Lus\u00f3fona, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Animal and Veterinary Research Centre (CECAV), University de Tr\u00e1s-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4001-0871","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana","family":"Duarte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o Agr\u00e1ria e Veterin\u00e1ria, Av. da Rep\u00fablica, Quinta do Marqu\u00eas, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal"},{"name":"Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health (CIISA), Faculdade de Medicina Veterin\u00e1ria, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida da Universidade T\u00e9cnica, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6110-9590","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"In\u00eas C.","family":"Varandas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o Agr\u00e1ria e Veterin\u00e1ria, Av. da Rep\u00fablica, Quinta do Marqu\u00eas, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6246-1983","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Silvia S.","family":"Barros","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o Agr\u00e1ria e Veterin\u00e1ria, Av. da Rep\u00fablica, Quinta do Marqu\u00eas, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1835-3077","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana M.","family":"Henriques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o Agr\u00e1ria e Veterin\u00e1ria, Av. da Rep\u00fablica, Quinta do Marqu\u00eas, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6509-6651","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Teresa","family":"Fagulha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o Agr\u00e1ria e Veterin\u00e1ria, Av. da Rep\u00fablica, Quinta do Marqu\u00eas, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1488-9659","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Margarida D.","family":"Duarte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o Agr\u00e1ria e Veterin\u00e1ria, Av. da Rep\u00fablica, Quinta do Marqu\u00eas, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal"},{"name":"Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health (CIISA), Faculdade de Medicina Veterin\u00e1ria, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida da Universidade T\u00e9cnica, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Myers, K., and Innes, C.D. 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