Genetic analysis of the capsid region of norovirus GII.4 variants isolated in South Korea.
Norovirus is one of the major causes of non-bacterial gastroenteritis in humans. The aim of this study was to analyze the amino acid variation of open reading frame 2 of GII.4 variants in South Korea during the period from November 2006 to December 2012. Sixty-nine complete nucleotide sequences of open reading frame 2 were obtained from 113 GII.4 strains. The GII.4 2006b variants were detected predominantly between 2006 and 2009; however, new GII.4 variants, which were termed the 2010 variant and the 2012 variant, emerged in 2010 and 2012, respectively. The number of GII.4 2006b variants steadily decreased until 2012, whereas the number of gastroenteritis cases caused by the new variants increased between 2010 and 2012. The amino acid sequence in the ORF2 region obtained in this study was compared with other GII.4 variants isolated in various countries. Amino acid variations were observed primarily at epitope sites and the surrounding regions. Amino acids 294, 359, 393, and 413 of the P2 subdomain were the most variable sites among the GII.4 variants. The information in this study can be useful in basic research to predict the emergence and determine the genetic functions of new GII.4 variants.
Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, the Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, 137-701, Republic of Korea.
Ju-Eun
JE
Kim
Sung-Geun
SG
Lee
Han-Gil
HG
Cho
Sang-Ha
SH
Han
Lae-Hyung
LH
Kang
Youn-Mi
YM
Lee
Chul-Jong
CJ
Park
Soon-Young
SY
Paik
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D029322:Norovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
D036022:Capsid Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral