Rodents are the largest and most diverse group of mammals. Covering a wide range of structural and functional adaptations, rodents successfully occupy virtually every terrestrial habitat, and they are often found in close association with humans, domestic animals, and wildlife. Although a significant amount of research has focused on rodents’ prominence as known reservoirs of zoonotic viruses, there has been less emphasis on the viral ecology of rodents in general. Here, we utilized a viral metagenomics approach to investigate polyomaviruses in wild rodents from the Baja California peninsula, Mexico, using fecal samples. We identified a novel polyomavirus in fecal samples from two rodent species, a spiny pocket mouse (Chaetodipus spinatus) and a Dulzura kangaroo rat (Dipodomys simulans). These two polyomaviruses represent a new species in the genus Betapolyomavirus. Sequences of this polyomavirus cluster phylogenetically with those of other rodent polyomaviruses and two other non-rodent polyomaviruses (WU and KI) that have been identified in the human respiratory tract. Through our continued work on seven species of rodents, we endeavor to explore the viral diversity associated with wild rodents on the Baja California peninsula and expand on current knowledge of rodent viral ecology and evolution.

啮齿动物是最大、最多样化的哺乳动物类群。啮齿动物涵盖了广泛的结构和功能适应，成功地占据了几乎所有陆地栖息地，并且它们经常与人类、家畜和野生动物密切相关。尽管大量研究集中在啮齿类动物作为人畜共患病毒已知储存库的显着地位，但总体上对啮齿类动物的病毒生态学的重视较少。在这里，我们利用病毒宏基因组学方法，利用粪便样本研究了墨西哥下加利福尼亚半岛野生啮齿动物的多瘤病毒。我们在两种啮齿动物的粪便样本中发现了一种新型多瘤病毒，即刺袋鼠（Chaetodipus spinatus）和杜尔祖拉袋鼠（Dipodomys simulans）。这两种多瘤病毒代表了β多瘤病毒属的一个新种。这种多瘤病毒的序列在系统发育上与其他啮齿动物多瘤病毒和已在人类呼吸道中鉴定的另外两种非啮齿动物多瘤病毒（WU 和 KI）的序列聚类。通过对七种啮齿动物的持续研究，我们努力探索与下加利福尼亚半岛野生啮齿动物相关的病毒多样性，并扩展当前啮齿动物病毒生态学和进化的知识。