title: Molecular characterization of a feline calicivirus isolated from tiger and its pathogenesis in cats.
abstract: Feline calicivirus (FCV) is a virus that causes respiratory disease in cats. In this study, the FCV TIG-1 was isolated from Siberian tiger feces collected in 2014 in Heilongjiang Province, China. Phylogenetic analysis among TIG-1 and other FCVs showed that TIG-1 does not share the same lineage with other FCV isolates from Heilongjiang or other regions in China but is located in the same cluster with the FCV strain Urbana, which was isolated from the United States. The growth kinetics in vitro and the pathogenicity in cats between TIG-1 and the domestic cat-origin FCV strain F9 (vaccine strain) and strain 2280 were compared. We found that the growth kinetics of strains TIG-1 and 2280 were faster than that of strain F9 from 12h to 36h post-infection, indicating that strains TIG-1 and 2280 produce infectious virions and reach peak yields earlier. Challenge experiments in cats showed that TIG-1 grew faster than the other two strains in the lungs of cats and that TIG-1 is a virulent FCV with 100% morbidity and lethality. In addition, the histopathological results showed that the virulent TIG-1 strain directly led to severe lung tissue damage and indirectly led to intestinal damage. The results presented here show that a tiger-origin FCV exhibits high virulence in cats.
authors.affiliation: Division of Zoonosis of Natural Foci, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, PR China. Electronic address: tj6049345@126.com.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Division of Zoonosis of Natural Foci, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, PR China.
authors.forename: Dafei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Division of Zoonosis of Natural Foci, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, PR China.
authors.forename: Yongxiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Division of Zoonosis of Natural Foci, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, PR China.
authors.forename: Hongxia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Division of Zoonosis of Natural Foci, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, PR China; College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University, Daqing, PR China.
authors.forename: Yanmei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Division of Zoonosis of Natural Foci, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, PR China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, PR China.
authors.forename: Shaopo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zu
authors.affiliation: Division of Zoonosis of Natural Foci, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, PR China.
authors.forename: Chunguo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Division of Zoonosis of Natural Foci, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, PR China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, PR China.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Division of Zoonosis of Natural Foci, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, PR China.
authors.forename: Jiasen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Division of Zoonosis of Natural Foci, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, PR China. Electronic address: qld@hvri.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Liandong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D017927:Calicivirus, Feline / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D002415:Cats; D010802:Phylogeny; D046010:Tigers / Q000821:virology*; D014774:Virulence; D017201:Virus Shedding
keywords: Challenge experiments; Feline calicivirus; Phylogenetic analysis; Siberian tiger