title: Rediscovery and genomic characterization of bovine astroviruses.
abstract: The genus Mamastrovirus belongs to the family Astroviridae and consists of at least six members infecting different mammalian hosts, including humans, cattle and pigs. In recent years, novel astroviruses have been identified in other mammalian species like roe deer, bats and sea lions. While the bovine astrovirus was one of the earliest astroviruses to have been studied, no further research has been performed recently and its genome sequence remains uncharacterized. In this report, we describe the detection and genomic characterization of astroviruses in bovine faecal specimens obtained in Hong Kong. Five of 209 specimens were found to be positive for astrovirus by RT-PCR. Two of the positive specimens were found to contain sequences from two different astrovirus strains. Complete genome sequences of approximately 6.3 kb in length were obtained for four strains, which showed similar organization of the genome compared to other astroviruses. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed their identities as members of the genus Mamastrovirus, and showed them to be most closely related to the Capreolus capreolus astrovirus. Based on the pairwise genetic distances among their full-length ORF2 sequences, these bovine astroviruses may be assigned into at least three different genotype species. Sequence analysis revealed evidence of potential recombination in ORF2. In summary, we report the first genome sequences of bovine astroviruses and clearly establish the species status of the virus. Additionally, our study is among the first to report co-infection by different astrovirus genotypes in the same host, which is an essential step for recombination to occur.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre of Infection and Immunity, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.|Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.|State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Hong Kong Special Administration Region, Hong Kong SAR.
authors.forename: Herman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tse
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
authors.forename: Wan-Mui
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
authors.forename: Hoi-Wah
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Tsoi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
authors.forename: Rachel Y Y
authors.initials: RYY
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
authors.forename: Candy C Y
authors.initials: CCY
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Hong Kong Special Administration Region, Hong Kong SAR.|Research Centre of Infection and Immunity, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.|Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
authors.forename: Susanna K P
authors.initials: SKP
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Hong Kong Special Administration Region, Hong Kong SAR.|Research Centre of Infection and Immunity, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.|Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
authors.forename: Patrick C Y
authors.initials: PCY
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Hong Kong Special Administration Region, Hong Kong SAR.|Research Centre of Infection and Immunity, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.|Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
authors.forename: Kwok-Yung
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Yuen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019200:Astroviridae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D019350:Astroviridae Infections / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D016679:Genome, Viral; D023281:Genomics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny