title: Genetic characterization of type 2a canine parvoviruses from Taiwan reveals the emergence of an Ile324 mutation in VP2.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Canine parvovirus 2 (CPV 2) is a major infectious cause of mortality in puppies. The characteristic symptom of CPV 2 disease is intestinal hemorrhage with severe bloody diarrhea. Soon after CPV was first recognized in the late 1970s, the original virus, CPV 2, was replaced in the canine population by strains carrying minor antigenic variants (termed 2a, 2b, and 2c) of the VP2 gene that could be distinguished using monoclonal antibodies and molecular analyses. Here, we provide an updated molecular characterization of the CPV 2 circulating in Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, 28 isolates of CPV 2 from 144 dogs with suspected CPV infection were obtained from northern, central, and southern Taiwan from 2008 to 2012 and screened by PCR. The 28 isolates were sequenced, and a phylogenetic analysis of the VP2 gene was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 28 Taiwanese CPV 2 isolates, 15 were identified as new CPV 2a, and 13 were identified as new CPV 2b. Compared to the reference CPV 2a, all 15 of the CPV 2a sequences collected in this study contain an Ile324 mutation caused by a TAT to ATT mutation at nucleotides 970-972 of the VP2 gene.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our VP2 sequence data revealed that both types are currently prevalent CPV 2 field strains circulating in Taiwan, and a unique Ile324 VP2 mutation was found in our Taiwanese CPV 2a isolates and recent Asian isolates. CPV 2c was not observed in this study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan. cnlin6@mail.npust.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Chao-Nan
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chi-Hsien
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.forename: Ming-Tang
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Chiou
authors.forename: Ling-Ling
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Chueh
authors.forename: Meng-Yu
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: Han-Siang
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D004285:Dogs; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020125:Mutation, Missense; D010322:Parvoviridae Infections / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D017993:Parvovirus, Canine / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013624:Taiwan; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins