title: Isolation and identification of a distinct strain of Culex Flavivirus from mosquitoes collected in Mainland China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Culexflavivirus (CxFV) is an insect specific virus that has been isolated from Culexpipiens, Culexquinquefasciatus, Culextritaeniorhynchus and other Culex mosquitoes. It is a novel flavivirus isolated in Asia, North America, Central America and Africa. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that, based on the envelope gene (E gene) sequence, the worldwide CxFV strains can be divided into two genotypes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A virus (SDDM06-11) was isolated from Culexpipiens collected in Shandong Province, China in 2006. The strain caused cytopathic effect (CPE) in Aedesalbopictus (C6/36) cells by 3 days post-infection and immunofluorescence assay (IFA) showed a reaction with Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) polyclonal antibodies. Phylogenetic analysis of the E gene sequence showed CxFV formed two genotypes with the SDDM06-11 strain assigned to genotype 1. Analysis of the E gene nucleotide homology showed the virus possessed characteristic amino acids at specific sites. The nucleotide homology of the open reading frame (ORF) was 94.8%-95.1% between SDDM06-11 and isolates from Japan, Iowa and Texas, and 90.2%-90.5% between SDDM06-11 and isolates from Uganda and Mexico.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this paper we report the first isolation and identification of an isolate of CxFV in mainland China. Phylogenetic analysis indicates the isolate belongs to genotype 1. Our findings provide insight into the occurrence of CxFV in Culex mosquito populations and its distribution on a global scale.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Department of Viral Encephalitis, Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 102206, People’s Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huanyu
authors.forename: Wang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Haiyan
authors.forename: Fu
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shihong
authors.forename: Liu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guifang
authors.forename: Liu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Gao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xiaoyan
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lizhi
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rayner
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Aiqiang
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guodong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003465:Culex / Q000821:virology*; D005416:Flavivirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005838:Genotype; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C065696:glycoprotein E, Flavivirus