title: Genotype differentiation of Agamid Adenovirus 1 in bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) in the USA by hexon gene sequence.
abstract: Bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) are popular pets in the United States. Agamid Adenovirus 1 (AgAdV1) is an important infectious agent of bearded dragons. The only AgAdV1 sequences available to date are from a highly conserved region of the DNA polymerase gene. Degenerate primers were designed to amplify a variable region of the AgAdV1 hexon gene for sequencing. Genetic differences were identified within the hexon gene of 17 bearded dragons from 4 collections. Much less diversity was present in the polymerase gene. Bayesian analysis of the hexon nucleotide alignment identified two larger groups and two isolates that did not tightly cluster with these two groups. Multiple genotypes were identified within collections, and individual genotypes were seen in different collections. Three bearded dragons appeared to be infected by multiple strains. These findings show that this hexon region is useful for AgAdV1 genotyping, which can be used epidemiologically as well as in future investigations of AgAdV1 evolution and clinical implications of strain differences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Zoological Medicine Service, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
authors.forename: Derek B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Parkin
authors.forename: Linda L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Archer
authors.forename: April L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Childress
authors.forename: James F X
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Wellehan
mesh_terms: D000256:Adenoviridae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D000257:Adenoviridae Infections / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000235:genetics; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005814:Genes, Viral; D005838:Genotype; D008116:Lizards / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D036022:Capsid Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins; C018315:hexon capsid protein, Adenovirus; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase