title: Genetic characterization of astroviruses detected in guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) reveals a distinct genotype and suggests cross-species transmission between turkey and guinea fowl.
abstract: Astroviruses can infect mammalian and avian species and are often responsible for gastroenteric disease symptoms. In this study, the complete open reading frame (ORF) 2, the 3' end of ORF1b and the corresponding intergenic region of astroviruses identified in farmed guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) were sequenced and genetically analysed. Overall, the genetic sequence of guinea fowl astroviruses was related to turkey astrovirus type 2 (TastV2), although a marked genetic distance was revealed based on ORF2, which might indicate the circulation of a distinct virus genotype and serotype in guinea fowl. Furthermore, the genetic data presented herein suggest that either recombination between different astroviruses infecting distinct hosts or adaptation of a given astrovirus to a new host had occurred. In either case, direct or indirect interspecies transmission of astroviruses is likely to have occurred between turkey and guinea fowl, indicating the ability of viruses belonging to the family Astroviridae to cross species barriers.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, OIE/FAO and National Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza and Newcastle disease, OIE Collaborating Centre for Diseases at the Human Animal Interface, Viale dell'Università 10, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Battisti
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salviato
authors.forename: Christine Monceyron
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Jonassen
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toffan
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Capua
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cattoli
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019350:Astroviridae Infections / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D052676:Avastrovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D046094:Galliformes; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral / Q000502:physiology; D005838:Genotype; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D016415:Sequence Alignment / Q000662:veterinary; D013045:Species Specificity; D014422:Turkeys; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins