Molecular characterization of avian rotavirus isolated in Korea

Abstract

An avian rotavirus (AvRV-2) was isolated from feces of broilers suffering from acute gastroenteritis in 2011. It was the first avian rotavirus isolated in Korea. To investigate the molecular characteristics of AvRV-2, the VP4, VP6, VP7 and NSP4 gene nucleotide sequences were determined and compared with those of rotavirus strains available in the GenBank database. The phylogenetic tree of VP7 gene showed that AvRV-2 had a high degree of nucleotide sequence homology (93.4% to 94.7%) with those of rotaviruses belonging to genotype G19 cluster. The phylogenetic tree of the VP4 gene revealed a high degree of nucleotide sequence homology (95.8% to 95.9%) with genotype P[30] rotaviruses isolated from chickens. The VP6 and NSP4 gene nucleotide sequences showed the highest identities with those of avian strains with 95.3% to 96.4% and 90.3% to 92.2%, respectively. Genetic characterization of the VP4, VP6, VP7 and NSP4 showed that AvRV-2 strain was most closely related to chicken rotavirus strains from Germany and Japan. Comparative nucleotide sequences and phylogenetic analysis indicated that avian rotavirus isolated from broilers belonged to genotype G19P [30] and it was the first report on avian rotavirus infection in Korea.