title: The identification of frequent variations in the fusion protein of canine distemper virus.
abstract: Canine distemper (CD) is a highly contagious disease with a worldwide distribution. Genetic diversity in genes encoding the haemagglutinin (H) and fusion (F) virus envelope proteins have been implicated in the increasing incidence of CD. Unlike the H gene, little is known about the genetic variability of the F gene in this virus. In the present study sequence analysis of the complete coding region of the F protein from CD virus isolates from Taiwan were carried out. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the majority of isolates were similar to those found in neighbouring China and Japan, but were genetically distinct from vaccine strains. Remarkable variations were found scattered throughout the pre-peptide region (residues 1-135). The sequence identity of this region between locally sourced strains and between these strains and vaccine strains was 89% and 64 to 67%, respectively. Analysis suggested a novel strain of distant genetic lineage was present in dogs in the geographically isolated city of Hualien.
authors.affiliation: Animal Health Research Institute, Council of Agriculture, 376 Chung-Cheng Road, Tamsui, Taipei 251, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ming-Shiuh
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kuo-Jung
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Li-Hsuan
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ching-Yun
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yu-Pin
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Chao-Chin
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Shu-Hwae
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Wei-Li
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004216:Distemper / Q000821:virology*; D004217:Distemper Virus, Canine / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D004285:Dogs; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins