title: Phylogenetic analyses of Norovirus strains detected in Uruguay reveal the circulation of the novel GII.P7/GII.6 recombinant variant.
abstract: Noroviruses (NoV) are one of the major etiological agent of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) outbreaks worldwide. Distinct NoV genotypes have been associated with different transmission patterns and disease severity in humans. Therefore, it is important to identify genetically different NoV genotypes circulating in a particular region. However, genotyping has become a challenge due to recombination events occurring mainly nearby ORF1/ORF2 junction of NoV genome, leading to distinct genotypes with polymerase and capsid regions derived from parenteral strains. Taking this into account, ORF1/ORF2 sequences were obtained from NoV strains collected from patients with AGE in Uruguay. This study reveals in silico evidences of recombination events taking place in four out of six strains analyzed for which its polymerase gene and its capsid region correspond to GII.P7 and to GII.6 genotype, respectively. These results also reveal the circulation of a GII.P7/GII.6 recombinant variant in the natural populations of NoV strains in the northwestern region of Uruguay. As far as we know this is the first report about the circulation of a NoV GII.P7/GII.6 recombinant variant in the Americas.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Nucleares, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Igua 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Álvaro
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Fajardo
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Regional Norte, Universidad de la Republica, Gral. Rivera 1350, 50000 Salto, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Fernando López
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Tort
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Regional Norte, Universidad de la Republica, Gral. Rivera 1350, 50000 Salto, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Matías
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Victoria
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Virología Comparada e Ambiental, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministerio da Saude, Avenida Brasil, 4365 - Pav. Helio & Peggy Pereira, 21040-360 Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tulio M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Fumian
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Virología Comparada e Ambiental, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministerio da Saude, Avenida Brasil, 4365 - Pav. Helio & Peggy Pereira, 21040-360 Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marize P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Miagostovich
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Virología Comparada e Ambiental, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministerio da Saude, Avenida Brasil, 4365 - Pav. Helio & Peggy Pereira, 21040-360 Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Paulo G
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Nucleares, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Igua 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cristina
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Regional Norte, Universidad de la Republica, Gral. Rivera 1350, 50000 Salto, Uruguay. Electronic address: rodneycolina1@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rodney
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Colina
mesh_terms: D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000821:virology*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D029322:Norovirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D014583:Uruguay
keywords: Evolution; Norovirus; Recombination