title: Full-length genome analysis of Čalovo strains of Batai orthobunyavirus (Bunyamwera serogroup): implications to taxonomy.
abstract: Batai virus (BATV) is a poorly studied arthropod-borne virus belonging to the genus Orthobunyavirus (Bunyamwera serogroup) within the family Bunyaviridae. It has been associated with human influenza-like febrile illness in several Asian, African, and European countries. Čalovo virus (CVOV), isolated in 1960 in Slovakia, has been classified as BATV based on high antigenic similarity, and since then both CVOV and BATV were used as synonyms. In order to fully clarify the phylogenetic relationships between CVOV, BATV, and other members of the Bunyamwera serogroup, we performed whole genome sequencing of four CVOV strains isolated in Europe and phylogenetic analyses of all related viruses. The nucleocapsid protein, encoded by the S genomic segment, contains 233 amino acids, 60 of which, putatively critical for protein function, are conserved. Within the CVOV polyprotein encoded by the M genomic segment, putative cleavage sites, N-glycosylation sites, and seven transmembrane regions were identified. The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, encoded by the L genome segment, exhibits conservation of the three regions known to be conserved among bunyavirus and arenavirus L proteins. Phylogenetic analyses of all three genomic segments of selected orthobunyaviruses clearly revealed that European and Asian/African strains of BATV are phylogenetically different and form two distinct lineages, indicating the existence of two different genotypes of BATV, tentatively named European genotype (with CVOV as a type strain) and Afro-Asian genotype (with BATV as a type strain) of BATV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 70, CZ-62100 Brno, Czech Republic. Electronic address: dufkovaL@vri.cz.
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dufkova
authors.affiliation: Viral Zoonoses, Emerging and Vector-Borne Infections Group, Institute of Virology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: karin.pachler@vetmeduni.ac.at.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pachler
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, CZ-37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, CZ-37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic. Electronic address: kilian@paru.cas.cz.
authors.forename: Patrik
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kilian
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, CZ-37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Institute of Soil Biology, Biology Centre AS CR v.v.i., Na sádkách 7, CZ-37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic. Electronic address: tomas.chrudimsky@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tomáš
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chrudimský
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health, Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Šrobárova 48, CZ-10042 Prague, Czech Republic. Electronic address: vdanielova@seznam.cz.
authors.forename: Vlasta
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Danielová
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 70, CZ-62100 Brno, Czech Republic; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, CZ-37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, CZ-37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic. Electronic address: ruzekd@paru.cas.cz.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Růžek
authors.affiliation: Viral Zoonoses, Emerging and Vector-Borne Infections Group, Institute of Virology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman. Electronic address: norbert.nowotny@vetmeduni.ac.at.
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nowotny
mesh_terms: D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016679:Genome, Viral; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016851:Orthobunyavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D065288:Serogroup; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: Batai virus; Orthobunyavirus; Phylogenetic analysis; Čalovo virus