title: Molecular epidemiology of bovine toroviruses circulating in South Korea.
abstract: The prevalence of the bovine torovirus (BToV) and its genetic characterization have been reported in North America, Europe and Japan. Therefore, this study examined the prevalence and genetic diversity of the BToV in a total of 645 diarrheic fecal samples from 629 Korean native beef calf herds using RT-PCR and nested PCR with the primer pairs specific to a part of the BToV membrane (M) gene. Overall, 19 (2.9%) out of 645 diarrheic samples from 19 herds (6.9%) tested positive for BToVs by either RT-PCR or nested PCR. A comparison of the nucleotide (nt) and amino acid (aa) sequences of a part of the BToV M gene (409bp) among the BToVs showed the Korean BToVs to have comparatively higher sequence homology to the Japanese and Dutch BToVs than to the American and Italian BToVs. Generally, the Korean BToV strains clustered with the Japanese and Dutch BToV strains. However, the American and Italian BToV strains clustered on a separate major branch, suggesting that these are more distantly related to other known BToV strains. These results suggest that the BToV infections are sporadic in diarrheic calves in South Korea, and the Korean BToV strains are more closely related to the Japanese and Dutch BToVs than to the American and Italian BToVs.
authors.affiliation: Biotherapy Human Resources Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, South Korea.
authors.forename: Su-Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Eun-Hee
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Sang-Ik
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Ha-Hyun
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young-Ju
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Guem-Ki
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Bang-Hun
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Hyun
authors.forename: Kyoung-Oh
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D005814:Genes, Viral; D014644:Genetic Variation; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D015995:Prevalence; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D017003:Torovirus / Q000235:genetics*; D018176:Torovirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral