Capim and Enseada
viruses are members of the genus
Orthobunyavirus isolated from
mosquitoes and
mammals in
Brazil. Despite
seroprevalence studies indicating
human infections in
Latin America, these
viruses remain relatively unknown and unstudied. In order to better understand the genetic and evolutionary relationships among
orthobunyaviruses, we sequenced the three genomic segments of Capim and Enseada
orthobunyaviruses. Based on
phylogenetic analysis, we demonstrated that these
viruses depicted two new distinct clades, one represented by Enseada and another composed of Capim
virus. In general, the
genome organization and genetic traits of these
viruses are
similar to other
orthobunyaviruses however, the
open reading frame (ORF) of the putative nonstructural NSs
protein of Enseada
orthobunyavirus precedes the
nucleocapsid ORF. Overall, our study provides details on the molecular characteristics of the prototype species of two groups within the
Orthobunyavirus genus, revealing novel features into the
genetic diversity and evolution of this genus (AU)