title: Genetic heterogeneity in the VP7 of group C rotaviruses.
abstract: Evidence for a possible zoonotic role of group C rotaviruses (GCRVs) has been recently provided. To gain information on the genetic relationships between human and animal GCRVs, we sequenced the VP7 gene of 10 porcine strains detected during a large surveillance study from different outbreaks of gastroenteritis in piglets. Four GCRV strains were genetically related to the prototype GCRV porcine Cowden strain. A completely new VP7 genotype included 4 strains (344/04-7-like) that shared 92.5% to 97.0% aa identity to each other, but <83% to human GCRVs and <79% to other porcine and bovine GCRVs. A unique 4-aa insertion (SSSV or SSTI), within a variable region at the carboxy-terminus of VP7, represented a distinctive feature for these 4 unique strains. An additional strain, 134/04-18, was clearly different from all human and animal GCRVs (<85% aa identity) and likely accounts for a distinct VP7 genotype. The VP7 of a unique strain, 42/05-21, shared similar ranges of aa sequence identities with porcine and human strains (88.0-90.7% to porcine GCRVs and 85.2-88.2% to human GCRVs). Plotting the VP7 gene of strain 42/05-21 against the VP7 of human and porcine strains revealed discontinuous evolution rates throughout the VP7 molecule, suggesting different mutational pressure or a remote intragenic recombination event. These findings provide the need for future epidemiological surveys and warrant studies to investigate the pathogenic potential of these novel GCRVs in pigs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Health and Wellbeing, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Bari, Valenzano, Bari, Italy. v.martella@veterinaria.uniba.it
authors.forename: Vito
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Martella
authors.forename: Krisztián
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bányai
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lorusso
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Decaro
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bellacicco
authors.forename: Costantina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Desario
authors.forename: Marialaura
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corrente
authors.forename: Grazia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Greco
authors.forename: Paschalina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moschidou
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tempesta
authors.forename: Serenella
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arista
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ciarlet
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lavazza
authors.forename: Canio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buonavoglia
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018740:Genetic Heterogeneity; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D017421:Sequence Analysis; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; C050779:VP7 protein, Rotavirus