title: Analysis of Puumala hantavirus in a bank vole population in northern Finland: evidence for co-circulation of two genetic lineages and frequent reassortment between strains.
abstract: In this study, for the first time, two distinct genetic lineages of Puumala virus (PUUV) were found within a small sampling area and within a single host genetic lineage (Ural mtDNA) at Pallasjärvi, northern Finland. Lung tissue samples of 171 bank voles (Myodes glareolus) trapped in September 1998 were screened for the presence of PUUV nucleocapsid antigen and 25 were found to be positive. Partial sequences of the PUUV small (S), medium (M) and large (L) genome segments were recovered from these samples using RT-PCR. Phylogenetic analysis revealed two genetic groups of PUUV sequences that belonged to the Finnish and north Scandinavian lineages. This presented a unique opportunity to study inter-lineage reassortment in PUUV; indeed, 32 % of the studied bank voles appeared to carry reassortant virus genomes. Thus, the frequency of inter-lineage reassortment in PUUV was comparable to that of intra-lineage reassortment observed previously (Razzauti, M., Plyusnina, A., Henttonen, H. & Plyusnin, A. (2008). J Gen Virol 89, 1649-1660). Of six possible reassortant S/M/L combinations, only two were found at Pallasjärvi and, notably, in all reassortants, both S and L segments originated from the same genetic lineage, suggesting a non-random pattern for the reassortment. These findings are discussed in connection to PUUV evolution in Fennoscandia.
authors.affiliation: Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Unit, PO Box 18, FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland.|Department of Virology, Infection Biology Research Program, Haartman Institute, PO Box 21, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Razzauti
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Infection Biology Research Program, Haartman Institute, PO Box 21, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Angelina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Plyusnina
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Infection Biology Research Program, Haartman Institute, PO Box 21, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Tarja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sironen
authors.affiliation: Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Unit, PO Box 18, FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland.
authors.forename: Heikki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Henttonen
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Infection Biology Research Program, Haartman Institute, PO Box 21, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Plyusnin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000821:virology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005387:Finland; D005838:Genotype; D006480:Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000821:virology; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D029262:Puumala virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D016865:Reassortant Viruses / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral