%0 Journal Article %A Wertheim, Joel O. %A Hostager, Reilly %A Ryu, Diane %A Merkel, Kevin %A Angedakin, Samuel %A Arandjelovic, Mimi %A Ayimisin, Ayuk Emmanuel %A Babweteera, Fred %A Bessone, Mattia %A Brun-Jeffery, Kathryn J. %A Dieguez, Paula %A Eckardt, Winnie %A Fruth, Barbara %A Herbinger, Ilka %A Jones, Sorrel %A Kuehl, Hjalmar %A Langergraber, Kevin E. %A Lee, Kevin %A Madinda, Nadege Freda %A Metzger, Sonja %A Ormsby, Lucy Jayne %A Robbins, Martha M. %A Sommer, Volker %A Stoinski, Tara %A Wessling, Erin G. %A Wittig, Roman M. %A Yuh, Yisa Ginath %A Leendertz, Fabian H. %A Calvignac-Spencer, Sébastien %+ Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Chimpanzees, Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Great Ape Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Chimpanzees, Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Gorillas, Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Chimpanzees, Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Department of Human Behavior Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society %T Discovery of novel herpes simplexviruses in wild gorillas, bonobos, and chimpanzees supports zoonotic origin of HSV-2 : %G eng %U https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0008-A4A0-9 %R 10.1093/molbev/msab072 %7 2021-03-15 %D 2021 %* Review method: peer-reviewed %X Viruses closely related to human pathogens can reveal the origins of human infectious diseases. Human herpes simplexvirus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) are hypothesized to have arisen via host-virus codivergence and cross-species transmission. We report the discovery of novel herpes simplexviruses during a large-scale screening of fecal samples from wild gorillas, bonobos, and chimpanzees. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that, contrary to expectation, simplexviruses from these African apes are all more closely related to HSV-2 than to HSV-1. Molecular clock-based hypothesis testing suggests the divergence between HSV-1 and the African great ape simplexviruses likely represents a codivergence event between humans and gorillas. The simplexviruses infecting African great apes subsequently experienced multiple cross-species transmission events over the past 3 My, the most recent of which occurred between humans and bonobos around 1 Ma. These findings revise our understanding of the origins of human herpes simplexviruses and suggest that HSV-2 is one of the earliest zoonotic pathogens. %J Molecular Biology and Evolution %V 38 %N 7 %& 2818 %P 2818 - 2830 %@ 0737-4038