title: Phylogenetic analysis of the sigma 2 protein gene of turkey reoviruses.
abstract: The open reading frame of the S3 segment encoding the sigma2 protein of four turkey reovirus field isolates was analyzed for sequence heterogeneity. The turkey reoviruses we present here have a 97% amino acid identity to turkey NC 98. The S3 nucleotide and amino acid sequence similarity was < or =61% and 78%-80%, respectively, when compared to the chicken reovirus isolates. Comparison of amino acid sequences from chickens and turkeys with that of a duck isolate revealed a 53% and 55% similarity, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses, based on both nucleotide and amino acid sequence, resulted in three major groups among the avian reoviruses; these groups were clearly separated by species. The results of this study provide further evidence, based on the deduced sigma2 sequence, that turkey reoviruses form a distinct, separate group relative to chicken and duck isolates. In addition, as a result of the limited sequence identity with their avian counterparts, turkey reoviruses could potentially be considered a separate virus species within subgroup 2 of the Orthoreovirus genus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Avian Medicine, Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Holly S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Sellers
authors.forename: Erich G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Linnemann
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Darrell R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Kapczynski
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D030101:Orthoreovirus, Avian / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D014422:Turkeys / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D036022:Capsid Proteins