Comparison of partial and full <em>VP2</em> gene sequences of parvovirus from domestic cats in Turkey

Abstract

Parvoviruses are ubiquitous pathogens that cause a fatal disease in cats and are able to mutate for cross-species transmission. Both the feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) and the canine parvovirus (CPV), with their antigenic variants, induce a disease in cats that presents with similar signs. The aim of this study was to determine the presence of parvoviruses in blood and exudate samples from five clinically symptomatic cats (from Ankara, Turkey). The gene coding for the VP2 structural capsid protein of the obtained parvoviruses was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), purified and partially or nearly full-length sequenced. The maximum likelihood (ML) method was used for molecular characterization. Phylogenetic analysis based on nearly full-length sequencing of the VP2 gene and amino acid arrangement showed that four of the viral strains were closely related and localized in the same FPV cluster. The fifth strain found was located in the same cluster but on a separate branch. Viral field strains were included in the CPV-2 group as determined by partial genome analysis: four fitted in the CPV-2c, and one in a separate clade within the CPV-2b group. To our knowledge, this is the first report that details nearly full-length VP2 gene characterisation in Turkish cats. Overall, nearly full-length VP2 contrasts were more effective to determine the origin of parvovirus strains, than partial length comparisons.

Canine Parvovirus in Turkey: First Whole-Genome Sequences, Strain Distribution, and Prevalence

“…The phylogenetic tree for cats and wolves shows that the CPV variants circulating among cats in Turkey form a separate branch. However, the detected strains have completely changed over time from CPV-2a and CPV-2c to CPV-2b [43,45]. CPV strains found in wolves were found to be closely related to strains detected in dogs recently (Supplement S4) [44].…”

“…In CPV strains isolated from cats between 2009 and 2010, 88.89% (8/9) of the samples were CPV-2a and 11.11% (1/9) were CPV-2c. However, all samples (6/6) identified from the previous literature [43] and GenBank (OM805994) between 2017 and 2021 were CPV-2b.…”

“…They were excluded from the phylogenetic analysis as they contained different and small amplified regions. To perform strain determination and phylogenetic analyses with CPV strains seen in cats and wolves in Turkey, a second analysis was performed using GenBank (OM805994) CPV cat and wolf isolates and shortened whole VP2 sequences (60-1,630 VP2 gene nucleotides), as previously described [43][44][45]. Only seven samples were found to be of sufficient length for the phylogenetic analysis of the cat and wolf strains [43,44].…”

Design of primers in the molecular detection of Feline Panleukopenia Virus

“…The NS2 protein participates in virus assembly and nuclear transport, although its role is not yet clear [1,6]. Historically, there have been minimal changes in the FPV genome, even a study indicates that there have been no changes in the amino acid sequence of VP2, indicating a lack of appearance of new variants [7,8,9]. The virus has a worldwide distribution, is resistant to disinfection and can survive for several months in the environment.…”