Molecular characterization of the full-length genome of a rabies virus isolate from India

Abstract

Rabies is an important public health problem in South East Asia, with cases in this part of the world contributing to about 70% of the global burden. A large number of rabies cases occur in India, however, there is no organized system of surveillance and hence there is a lack of reliable data. Moreover, comprehensive molecular epidemiological studies have not been performed on Indian virus isolates. In this study, we determined the complete nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence of a primary isolate of rabies virus obtained from the brain of an infected patient. Comparison of the genomic sequence with those of the ten fully sequenced rabies strains available in GenBank showed nucleotide homology ranging from 97% with AY956319 to 81% with AY705373. Amino acid homology of nucleoprotein ranged from 99.7% with AY352493 to 92% with DQ875051. In case of the glycoprotein gene, the homology ranged from 98.8% with AY956319 to 87.2 % with AY705373. An extensive nucleoprotein, glycoprotein, and full-length genome-based phylogenetic analysis was performed along with sequences available from the GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis of the complete genome sequence indicated that this isolate exhibited close homology with the ex Indian strain AY956319.

Molecular and immunogenic characterization of BHK-21 cell line adapted CVS-11 strain of rabies virus and future prospect in vaccination strategy

“…Under Indian scenario, it is clear that the spatial spread of rabies viruses is limited by geographical boundaries or topographical barriers and not by political boundaries. Similar findings on grouping of viruses based on geography was previously reported for isolates from Indian sub-continent [20][21][22]28] and also other part of the world [11,13,19]. This finding indicates that rough idea for place of origin of rabies virus can be made using G gene based sequence analysis.…”

Molecular characterization of Indian rabies virus isolates by partial sequencing of nucleoprotein (N) and phosphoprotein (P) genes

“…This study was undertaken to characterize the rabies virus isolates of Indian origin through nucleotide sequencing of partial N and P genes. As of now, a very limited number of studies have examined the molecular epidemiology of rabies viruses circulating in India by sequence analysis of the glycoprotein-cytoplasmic domain (G-CD) region, the noncoding G-L intergenic region, partial L sequence and the full length genome [6][7][8]. In this study, the genetic relatedness of rabies virus isolates from across India and between rabies viruses of other parts of the world have been studied.…”

Determination and Molecular Analysis of the Complete Genome Sequence of Two Wild-Type Rabies Viruses Isolated from a Haematophagous Bat and a Frugivorous Bat in Brazil

“…In recent years, there have been several reports on the complete genomic sequences of wild-type RABVs and other genotypes (GTs) [4,6,17,18,22,34], as well as a complete genome analysis of a RABV isolated from Brazilian wild fox [21]. Analyses of genome sequences of wildtype RABVs provide useful information for understanding genetic and biological characteristics of RABVs prevalent in the wild.…”