title: From lesions to viral clones: biological and molecular diversity amongst autochthonous Brazilian vaccinia virus.
abstract: Vaccinia virus (VACV) has had an important role for humanity because of its use during the smallpox eradication campaign. VACV is the etiologic agent of the bovine vaccinia (BV), an emerging zoonosis that has been associated with economic, social, veterinary and public health problems, mainly in Brazil and India. Despite the current and historical VACV importance, there is little information about its circulation, prevalence, origins and maintenance in the environment, natural reservoirs and diversity. Brazilian VACV (VACV-BR) are grouped into at least two groups based on genetic and biological diversity: group 1 (G1) and group 2 (G2). In this study, we went to the field and investigated VACV clonal diversity directly from exanthemous lesions, during BV outbreaks. Our results demonstrate that the G1 VACV-BR were more frequently isolated. Furthermore, we were able to co-detect the two variants (G1 and G2) in the same sample. Molecular and biological analysis corroborated previous reports and confirmed the co-circulation of two VACV-BR lineages. The detected G2 clones presented exclusive genetic and biological markers, distinct to reference isolates, including VACV-Western Reserve. Two clones presented a mosaic profile, with both G1 and G2 features based on the molecular analysis of A56R, A26L and C23L genes. Indeed, some SNPs and INDELs in A56R nucleotide sequences were observed among clones of the same virus population, maybe as a result of an increased mutation rate in a mixed population. These results provide information about the diversity profile in VACV populations, highlighting its importance to VACV evolution and maintenance in the environment.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-901, Brazil. graziufmg@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Graziele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-901, Brazil. felipelopeasssis@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Assis
authors.affiliation: AQUACEN) Laboratório Nacional Oficial de Referência de Doenças de Animais Aquáticos, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-901, Brazil. gabriel.magno@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-901, Brazil. jonasalbarnaz@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Albarnaz
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-901, Brazil. maurili15@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Maurício
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-901, Brazil. ana.andrade2008@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Ana Cláudia
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-901, Brazil. calixtomicro@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Calixto
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Retroviroses, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Escola de Veterinária da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-901, Brazil. cairo_henrique@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Cairo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Centro Agropecuário, Departamento de Ciência Animal, Universidade Federal do Pará, Pará 66075-110, Brazil. diomedes@ufpa.br.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Diomedes Neto
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-901, Brazil. gitrindade@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Giliane
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Trindade
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-901, Brazil. peregrinopcp@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Paulo César
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-901, Brazil. ernagkroon@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Erna Geessien
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Kroon
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-901, Brazil. jonatas.abrahao@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jônatas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abrahão
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002417:Cattle; D015605:Cowpox / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D008297:Male; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D014616:Vaccinia virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014774:Virulence