Genetic characterization of rabies field isolates from Thailand.
We sequenced 512 nucleotides in two variable regions of the N gene of 23 rabies isolates from the northeastern part of Thailand by direct sequencing of PCR-amplified products. The sequencing data revealed two new lineages in these rabies isolates. Based on the results of this study together with the findings of our earlier study, the rabies isolates in Thailand were divided into two genogroups, designated as T1 and T2, which were predominantly localized in the northern and northeastern areas, respectively. Each of these two genogroups consisted of four lineages. There was a correlation between these eight lineages and the geographical origins of the isolates. Two lineages belonging to the T2 genogroup from the northeastern area of Thailand were newly identified in this study. The isolates in both genogroups were also prevalent in the central area of Thailand. Each lineage in the T1 and T2 genogroups was found independently in dogs in the upper and lower southern areas of Thailand, respectively. These genetic data and the historical background suggest that rabies viruses belonging to the T2 genogroups were prevalent many years ago in the central and northeastern areas of Thailand and were later transferred to the lower southern parts of Thailand.
Laboratory of Zoonotic Diseases, Division of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Gifu University Gifu, Gifu 501-1193, Japan.
Heru
H
Susetya
Makoto
M
Sugiyama
Akio
A
Inagaki
Naoto
N
Ito
Kanisak
K
Oraveerakul
Nimit
N
Traiwanatham
Nobuyuki
N
Minamoto
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000821:virology; D004285:Dogs; D005814:Genes, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019251:Nucleocapsid / Q000235:genetics; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011818:Rabies / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics
D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins; C099601:nucleocapsid protein, Rabies virus