title: Genetic variability of Czech and German RHD virus strains.
abstract: RHD (rabbit haemorrhagic disease) virus (RHDV) is the aetiological factor of the haemorrhagic disease of rabbits and is currently present on all continents. RHDV is a small, envelope-free virus containing genetic material in the form of a 7437-nucleotide long RNA strand. Studies indicate that genetic variability of RDHV strains originating from various parts of the world is approximately 14%, regardless the time and place of isolation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the genetic variability of 6 RHD virus strains from the Czech Republic (CAMPV-561, CAMPV-562, CAMPV-558) and Germany (Frankfurt, Wika, Rossi) based on analysis of fragment of a gene coding a nonstructural p30 protein. The largest variability of nucleotide sequences within the studied fragment was found for the Rossi strain and CAMPV-562 (13.5%) and CAMPV-558 (13.5%), Wika and Frankfurt (12.1%), and CAMPV-561 and Wika (11.2%). Among the Czech strains the largest genetic distance was noted for strains CAMPV-558 and Iowa (0.130/0.140), and in the case of the German strains, for Frankfurt and Iowa (0.123/0.132). A homology tree constructed based on a fragment of a p30 protein-coding gene divided the 14 analysed strains into IV groups of 88% homology. Phylogenetic relationships also divided the tested strains into 4 genetic groups (G1-G4). The larger genetic distance exists between the Czech and German strains and the American ones, and the smallest between them and the European strains.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Natural Science, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland. kurp13@univ.szczecin.pl
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hukowska-Szematowicz
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pawlikowska
authors.forename: Wiesław
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Deptuła
mesh_terms: D014644:Genetic Variation; D017929:Hemorrhagic Disease Virus, Rabbit / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny