title: Analysis of early strains of the norovirus pandemic variant GII.4 Sydney 2012 identifies mutations in adaptive sites of the capsid protein.
abstract: Global surveillance for norovirus identified in 2012 the emergence of a novel pandemic GII.4 variant, termed Sydney 2012. In Italy, the novel pandemic variant was identified as early as November 2011 but became predominant only in the winter season 2012-2013. Upon sequencing and comparison with strains of global origin, the early Sydney 2012 strains were found to differ from those spreading in 2012-2013 in the capsid (ORF2) putative epitopes B, C and D, segregating into a distinct phylogenetic clade. At least three residues (333, 340 and 393, in epitopes B, C and D, respectively) of the VP1 varied among Sydney 2012 strains of different clades. These findings suggest that the spread of the pandemic variant in Italy during the winter season 2012-2013 was due to the introduction of strains distinct from those circulating at low frequency in the former winter season and that similar strains were also circulating elsewhere worldwide.
authors: Dipartimento di Scienze per la Promozione della Salute e Materno Infantile "G. D'Alessandro", Università di Palermo, Via del vespro 133, Palermo 90127, Italia. Electronic address: giovanni.giammanco@unipa.it.
authors: G M
authors: GM
authors: Giammanco
authors: Dipartimento di Scienze per la Promozione della Salute e Materno Infantile "G. D'Alessandro", Università di Palermo, Via del vespro 133, Palermo 90127, Italia.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: De Grazia
authors: Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università Aldo Moro di Bari, Valenzano, Italia.
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Terio
authors: Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università Aldo Moro di Bari, Valenzano, Italia.
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Lanave
authors: Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università Aldo Moro di Bari, Valenzano, Italia.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Catella
authors: Dipartimento di Scienze per la Promozione della Salute e Materno Infantile "G. D'Alessandro", Università di Palermo, Via del vespro 133, Palermo 90127, Italia.
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Bonura
authors: Dipartimento di Scienze per la Promozione della Salute e Materno Infantile "G. D'Alessandro", Università di Palermo, Via del vespro 133, Palermo 90127, Italia.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Saporito
authors: Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Unità di Microbiologia e Virologia, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parma, Italia.
authors: M C
authors: MC
authors: Medici
authors: Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Unità di Microbiologia e Virologia, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parma, Italia.
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Tummolo
authors: Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Unità di Microbiologia e Virologia, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parma, Italia.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Calderaro
authors: Institute for Veterinary Medical Research, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Bányai
authors: Schaller Research Group at the University of Heidelberg and the DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Infectious Diseases, Virology, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Hansman
authors: Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Unità di Microbiologia e Virologia, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parma, Italia.
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Martella
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D029322:Norovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D058873:Pandemics; D010802:Phylogeny; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D036022:Capsid Proteins
keywords: Capsid protein VP1 epitopes; Evolution; GII.4; Italy; Norovirus; Sydney 2012 variant