title: Phylogenetic analysis reveals extensive evolution of avian paramyxovirus type 1 strains of pigeons (Columba livia) and suggests multiple species transmission.
abstract: Partial sequence and residue substitution analyses of the fusion protein gene were performed for 68 strains of avian paramyxovirus type 1 of pigeons (PPMV-1), an antigenic variant of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) of chickens, derived from 16 countries between 1978 and 2002. The majority of isolates clustered into a single genetic lineage, termed VIb/1, within genotype VI of NDV strains of chickens, whereas a small number of isolates that originated in Croatia after 1995, grouped in a highly diverged lineage, termed VIb/2, indicating a separate host-switching event from that of VIb/1 strains. Four distinct subgroups of lineage VIb/1, Iraqi (IQ), early European (EU/ea), North American (NA) and recent European (EU/re) have emerged and circulated in the past decades. Subgroup EU/ea and NA strains were responsible for the main streams of infection in the 1980s, while EU/re viruses for infections in the 1990s. The degree of genetic diversity of viruses in the early phase of the epizootic suggested a prolonged infection period of the pigeon-type viruses prior to the emergence of the disease in the early 1980s. Shared derived character analysis showed a close genetic relationship to Sudanese viruses from the mid-1970, suggesting that PPMV-1 viruses could be of African origin.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Medical Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1143 Budapest, Hungária krt. 21, Hungary.
authors.forename: Dorina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ujvári
authors.forename: Eniko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wehmann
authors.forename: Erhard F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Kaleta
authors.forename: Ortrud
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Werner
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Savić
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.forename: György
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Czifra
authors.forename: Béla
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lomniczi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D010856:Columbidae / Q000821:virology*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009521:Newcastle Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D009522:Newcastle disease virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010802:Phylogeny