title: Genotyping of acute hepatitis a virus isolates from China, 2003-2008.
abstract: Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is usually transmitted by an oral-fecal route and is prevalent not only in developing countries but also in developed countries. In the present study, the phylogenetic characterization of the VP1/2A junction region (321 nucleotides) of China HAV isolates was examined. Anti-HAV IgM-positive serum samples were collected from 8 provinces, including 20 cities or counties in China from 2003 to 2008; 337 isolates from 406 HAV patients' serum samples were amplified by RT-PCR, sequenced at the VP1/2A junction region and aligned with the published sequences from GenBank to establish phylogenetic analysis. All China HAV isolates in this study belonged to genotype I, with 98.8% (333/337) of samples clustering in sub-genotype IA and 1.2% (4/337) in sub-genotype IB. In addition, sub-genotype IA isolates clustered into four groups (92.7-100% nucleotide identity), and the samples collected from all China HAV isolates in this investigation showed 87.5-100% nucleotide identity, but the amino acids in this region were more conserved (95.2-100% identity). Few unique amino acid changes could be deduced (VP1-253: Glu → Gly; 2A-34: Pro → Ala; 2A-33: Leu → Phe). Genetically identical or similar HAV strains existed in some investigated areas in China during different years, suggesting that an indigenous strain has been circulating in those regions. This report provides new data on the genetic relatedness and molecular epidemiology of HAV isolates from China as well as the distribution of sub-genotype IA and IB in this part of the world.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Molecular Virology & Genetic Engineering, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changping Qu, Beijing, PR China. caojy@126.com
authors.forename: Jingyuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Shengli
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.forename: Qingling
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Huihui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D001483:Base Sequence; D002681:China; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D005838:Genotype; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000821:virology; D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D017957:Hepatitis A Virus, Human / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D058889:Molecular Typing; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral; C096539:VP1 protein, hepatitis A virus; D014764:Viral Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; C057400:picornain 2A, Picornavirus