title: New insights into the genetic diversity of European porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV).
abstract: The complete ORF5 sequences of 66 porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) field virus strains (1991-2001) and three European modified live vaccine strains were determined, as well as ORFs 6 and 7 of 19 selected strains. The variability of the deduced ORF5 amino acid sequences was analysed using statistical process control (SPC), allowing for the objective assessment of variable and conserved regions. Four variable and four conserved regions as well as five hypervariable amino acid positions were defined. The effects of genetic variability on possible structural and functional properties were discussed with emphasis on immunogenic features. Phylogenetic analysis and pairwise comparison of the nucleotide sequences revealed that the genetic distances between the strains has greatly increased over time. The data do not support an evolutionary influence of the geographical location or the time of sample collection, nor of PRRSV vaccination on strain development. In contrast to other authors who tended to concentrate on the samples from either a common geographic origin or a short sampling period, we could not confirm geographically separate PRRSV clusters nor did we find evidence of positive selective pressure as measured by the ratio of synonymous to non-synonymous substitutions in ORF5, 6 or 7. Immunological implications and vaccination strategies are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Bioscreen European Veterinary Disease Management Center GmbH, Mendelstr. 11, 48149 Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pesch
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: V F
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Ohlinger
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005814:Genes, Viral; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D019318:Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology*; D019316:Porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D016415:Sequence Alignment / Q000662:veterinary; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013552:Swine; D014613:Vaccines, Attenuated / Q000276:immunology; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D014613:Vaccines, Attenuated; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D014765:Viral Vaccines; C114789:glycoprotein 5, PRRSV