title: Analysis of genetic divergence among strains of porcine rotavirus C, with focus on VP4 and VP7 genotypes in Japan.
abstract: Porcine rotavirus C (RVC) has been often detected in sporadic cases or outbreaks of diarrhoea in suckling and weaned pigs. Surveillance studies of RVCs have demonstrated high prevalence in the United States, and Japan, and some other countries. To date, the zoonotic impact and pathogenicity of RVCs are not well understood, and only a few complete sequences of RVCs are available. The aim of this study was to perform sequence and phylogenetic analyses for the VP4 and VP7 genes of the 22 porcine RVCs identified in Japan from 2002 to 2010. The genetic classification of the VP4 genes of the 22 porcine RVCs revealed the presence of six clusters including one cluster each from human and bovine RVCs with a cut-off value of 80%. In addition, VP7 genes of the 22 porcine RVCs were grouped into four of the seven known clusters on the basis of cut-off values of 85% at the nucleotide level reported previously. The data presented here demonstrate that multiple porcine RVC strains with distinctive genotypes based on a combination of the VP4 and VP7 genes are widely distributed and circulated among farms throughout Japan. According to establishment of dual genetic classification for VP4 and VP7 genotypes of porcine RVCs, furthermore, we discovered a possible event of gene reassortment between different rotavirus strains from the same farm. Our findings should advance the understanding of the evolution and pathogenicity of RVCs.
authors.affiliation: Viral Disease and Epidemiology Research Division, National Institute of Animal Health, NARO, 3-1-5 Kannondai, Tsukuba 305-0856, Japan. Electronic address: tohru_suzuki@affrc.go.jp.
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Gifu Prefectural Central Livestock Health and Sanitation Office, 4-2-22 Imamine, Gifu 503-0838 Japan.
authors.forename: Ayako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hasebe
authors.affiliation: Dairy Hygiene Research Division, National Institute of Animal Health, NARO, 4 Hitsujigaoka, Sapporo 062-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Ayako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.affiliation: Dairy Hygiene Research Division, National Institute of Animal Health, NARO, 4 Hitsujigaoka, Sapporo 062-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsunemitsu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; C060339:VP4 protein, Rotavirus; C050779:VP7 protein, Rotavirus
keywords: Classification; Genotype; Porcine rotavirus C; VP4; VP7