title: Prevalence of G and P serotypes among equine rotaviruses in the faeces of diarrhoeic foals.
abstract: Variant types of VP4 and VP7 gene segments of faecal rotaviruses from diarrhoeic foals were identified by restriction endonuclease digestion of reverse transcription/polymerase chain reaction (RT/PCR) products. The variants observed were correlated with serotypes by determination of the sequence of representative RT/PCR products (entire coding sequence for VP7 and the VP8 region of VP4) and comparison to published sequences of equine G and P serotype genes. Both G and P serotypes could be predicted for 95/116 (82%) strains, P serotype only for a further 8 (7%) strains and G serotype only for 1 (1%) strain. All characterised strains belonged to the same P serotype, P12, although minor sequence variations were observed. Of those strains able to be assigned to G serotypes, 84/96 (87.5%) belonged to serotype G3A, and 12/96 (12.5%) belonged to serotype G14. Comparison of G serotyping by ELISA to the RT/PCR method showed that serotyping equine rotaviruses by currently available ELISA methods was prone to error. This study establishes the restricted serotypic diversity of equine rotaviruses, and the significance of serotype G14.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Preclinical Centre, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Browning
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Begg
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D001483:Base Sequence; D002213:Capsid / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D004279:DNA, Viral; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006736:Horses; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D004279:DNA, Viral; C060339:VP4 protein, Rotavirus; C050779:VP7 protein, Rotavirus