title: Impact of antigenic diversity on laboratory diagnosis of Avian bornavirus infections in birds.
abstract: Avian bornaviruses (ABVs) are a group of genetically diverse viruses within the Bornaviridae family that can infect numerous avian species and represent the causative agents of proventricular dilatation disease, an often fatal disease that is widely distributed in captive populations of parrots and related species. The current study was designed to assess the antigenic variability of the family Bornaviridae and to determine its impact on ABV diagnosis by employing fluorescent antibody assays. It was shown that polyclonal rabbit sera directed against recombinant bornavirus nucleoprotein, X protein, phosphoprotein, and matrix protein provided sufficient cross-reactivity for the detection of viral antigen from a broad range of bornavirus genotypes grown in cell culture. In contrast, a rabbit anti-glycoprotein serum and 2 monoclonal antibodies directed against nucleoprotein and phosphoprotein proteins reacted more specifically. Antibodies were readily detected in sera from avian patients infected with known ABV genotypes if cells persistently infected with a variety of different bornavirus genotypes were used for analysis. For all sera, calculated antibody titers were highest when the homologous or a closely related target virus was used for the assay. Cross-reactivity with more distantly related genotypes of other phylogenetic groups was usually reduced, resulting in titer reduction of up to 3 log units. The presented results contribute to a better understanding of the antigenic diversity of family Bornaviridae and further emphasize the importance of choosing appropriate diagnostic tools for sensitive detection of ABV infections.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany (Zimmermann, Staeheli, Rubbenstroth)Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Ornamental Fish, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University Ludwig Maximilian Munich, Oberschleißheim, Germany (Rinder)Department of Veterinary Sciences, University Ludwig Maximilian Munich, Munich, Germany (Kaspers).
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany (Zimmermann, Staeheli, Rubbenstroth)Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Ornamental Fish, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University Ludwig Maximilian Munich, Oberschleißheim, Germany (Rinder)Department of Veterinary Sciences, University Ludwig Maximilian Munich, Munich, Germany (Kaspers).
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rinder
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany (Zimmermann, Staeheli, Rubbenstroth)Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Ornamental Fish, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University Ludwig Maximilian Munich, Oberschleißheim, Germany (Rinder)Department of Veterinary Sciences, University Ludwig Maximilian Munich, Munich, Germany (Kaspers).
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kaspers
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany (Zimmermann, Staeheli, Rubbenstroth)Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Ornamental Fish, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University Ludwig Maximilian Munich, Oberschleißheim, Germany (Rinder)Department of Veterinary Sciences, University Ludwig Maximilian Munich, Munich, Germany (Kaspers).
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Staeheli
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany (Zimmermann, Staeheli, Rubbenstroth)Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Ornamental Fish, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University Ludwig Maximilian Munich, Oberschleißheim, Germany (Rinder)Department of Veterinary Sciences, University Ludwig Maximilian Munich, Munich, Germany (Kaspers) dennis.rubbenstroth@uniklinik-freiburg.de.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rubbenstroth
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000940:Antigenic Variation; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D028981:Bornaviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002171:Canaries; D002460:Cell Line; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D004285:Dogs; D061985:Madin Darby Canine Kidney Cells; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018701:Mononegavirales Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D010311:Parrots; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment / Q000662:veterinary; D014709:Vero Cells; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: Bornaviridae; diagnosis; fluorescent antibody tests; serology