Circulation and phylogenetic relationship of chicken and turkey-origin astroviruses detected in domestic ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus)

Abstract

The natural occurrence of chicken and turkey-origin astroviruses in domestic ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus) is described. Twenty-two duck flocks were covered by this research. The liver, spleen, kidney and intestines were sampled and tested by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction for the presence of avian nephritis virus (ANV), chicken astrovirus (CAstV), turkey astrovirus (TAstV)-1, TAstV-2 and duck astrovirus. The astrovirus infection was confirmed in multiple organ samples from 59.1% of tested flocks. CAstV was detected in one flock, TAstV-2 in three flocks and ANV in 10 flocks. The molecular and phylogenetic analysis of the small open reading frame (ORF) 1b fragment (130 nucleotides) of all chicken and turkey-origin astroviruses detected in ducks showed that ANV-sequence group was more distant from CastV, TAstV-1 and TAstV-2 sequences, which formed a separate, more related group. ANV sequences were divided into three subgroups, suggesting that several types of ANV were circulating in Croatian duck flocks. The comparison of the partial ORF 1b (254 nucleotides) duck ANV sequences with 21 ANVs detected in various avian species (chickens, turkeys, geese, guinea fowl and pigeons) revealed they shared the higher nucleotide (95.6 to 97.2%) and amino acid (98.8 to 100%) identity with two ANV-2-like sequences from chickens (GA-SEP-A451-05 and GA-CK-SEP ANV-364-2005). Phylogenetic neighbour-joining tree analysis based on the same nucleotide alignment, and performed using the Jukes-Cantor method, clustered the compared sequences into three groups. All analysed duck ANV sequences showed a close phylogenetic relationship with chicken-origin ANVs. Additional work is required to determine the significance and pathogenicity of chicken and turkey-origin astroviruses in domestic ducks.

Genetic characterization of a novel astrovirus in Pekin ducks

“…One group was highly similar to the newly discovered DAstV-3 CPH (Liu et al, 2014b), and the other represented by DAstV-4 YP2 formed a novel group of avastroviruses. Our data, in conjunction with previous evidences (Asplin, 1965;Gough et al, 1985;Toth, 1969;Haider and Calnek, 1979;Fu et al, 2009;Liu et al, 2014a,b;Bidin et al 2011Bidin et al , 2012a, support the view that domestic ducks are susceptible to astroviruses of diverse genetic backgrounds.…”

“…The findings of different avastroviruses in domestic ducks have raised a concern about the role of domestic ducks as reservoirs for diverse astroviruses. Earlier work by Bidin et al (2012b), which showed that ANV was detected from dead-in-shell goslings, suggests that it is necessary to pay attention to astrovirus infections in domestic geese.…”

“…In addition to the three groups of DAstVs primarily found in domestic ducks, other avian astroviruses, including ANV, TAstV-1, TAstV-2 and CAstV, have also been identified in domestic ducks (Bidin et al, 2011(Bidin et al, , 2012a. The findings of different avastroviruses in domestic ducks have raised a concern about the role of domestic ducks as reservoirs for diverse astroviruses.…”

Human Astroviruses

“…Indeed, some of the officially recognized AstV species (genotypes MAstV 2, AAstV 1, AAstV 2, and AAstV 3) may infect more than one animal species, indicating that cross-species transmission is frequent, especially in avian viruses. While cross-species infections have been well documented in poultry (160,161) and have also been suggested in mammals, especially in pigs, cats, and humans (147,159,162,163), it is still unclear whether avian viruses may be able to infect mammal species and vice versa. Interestingly, especially within viruses infecting humans, the distinct evolutionary relationships among the different genotype species that infect humans indicate that several introductions of HAstVs into the human population have occurred (31).…”

Ecological Drivers of Virus Evolution: Astrovirus as a Case Study

“…This is common with poultry (domestic ducks, chickens, turkeys, and guinea fowl), where coreared and free-ranging birds can interact with each other and with foraging wild birds. This can lead to coinfection with different strains and opportunities for recombination, evidenced by viruses detected in guinea fowl that originated in turkeys or those detected in domestic ducks that are turkey and chicken derived (13,14). Ecotones also drive zoonoses, as evidenced by seroconversion of farmers and infection of an immunocompromised individual (15,16).…”