title: Predicting antigenic sites on the foot-and-mouth disease virus capsid of the South African Territories types using virus neutralization data.
abstract: Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) outer capsid proteins 1B, 1C and 1D contribute to the virus serotype distribution and antigenic variants that exist within each of the seven serotypes. This study presents phylogenetic, genetic and antigenic analyses of South African Territories (SAT) serotypes prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. Here, we show that the high levels of genetic diversity in the P1-coding region within the SAT serotypes are reflected in the antigenic properties of these viruses and therefore have implications for the selection of vaccine strains that would provide the best vaccine match against emerging viruses. Interestingly, although SAT1 and SAT2 viruses displayed similar genetic variation within each serotype (32 % variable amino acids), antigenic disparity, as measured by r(1)-values, was less pronounced for SAT1 viruses compared with SAT2 viruses within our dataset, emphasizing the high antigenic variation within the SAT2 serotype. Furthermore, we combined amino acid variation and the r(1)-values with crystallographic structural data and were able to predict areas on the surface of the FMD virion as antigenically relevant. These sites were mostly consistent with antigenic sites previously determined for types A, O and C using mAbs and escape mutant studies. Our methodology offers a quick alternative to determine antigenic relevant sites for FMDV field strains.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa.|Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Transboundary Animal Diseases Programme, Private Bag X05, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa.
authors.forename: F F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Maree
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa.|Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Transboundary Animal Diseases Programme, Private Bag X05, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Blignaut
authors.affiliation: Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Transboundary Animal Diseases Programme, Private Bag X05, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Esterhuysen
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Unit, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa.
authors.forename: T A P
authors.initials: TAP
authors.lastname: de Beer
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Theron
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry Division, North-West University, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa.
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.affiliation: Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, NY 11944, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rieder
mesh_terms: D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D000818:Animals; D057134:Antibodies, Neutralizing / Q000276:immunology*; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology*; D002213:Capsid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D002417:Cattle; D018604:Epitope Mapping; D029544:Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D057134:Antibodies, Neutralizing; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral