Molecular characterization of a novel picobirnavirus in a chicken

Arch Virol. 2018 Dec;163(12):3455-3458. doi: 10.1007/s00705-018-4012-6. Epub 2018 Sep 6.

Abstract

Picobirnaviruses (PBVs) are bisegmented viruses with a wide geographical and host species distribution. The number of novel PBV sequences has been increasing with the help of the viral metagenomics. A novel picobirnavirus strain, pbv/CHK/M3841/HUN/2011, was identified by viral metagenomics; the complete segment 1 (MH327933) and 2 (MH327934) sequences were obtained by RT-PCR from a cloacal sample of a diseased broiler breeder pullet in Hungary. Although the conserved nucleotide (e.g., ribosome binding site) and amino acid motifs (e.g., ExxRxNxxxE, S-domain of the viral capsid and motifs in the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase) were identifiable in the chicken picobirnavirus genome, the putative segment 1 showed low (< 30%) amino acid sequence identity to the corresponding proteins of marmot and dromedary PBVs, while segment 2 showed higher (< 70%) amino acid sequence identity to a wolf PBV protein sequence. This is the first full-genome picobirnavirus sequence from a broiler breeder chicken, but the pathogenicity of this virus is still questionable.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chickens / virology*
  • Genome, Viral
  • Open Reading Frames
  • Phylogeny
  • Picobirnavirus / classification
  • Picobirnavirus / genetics*
  • Picobirnavirus / isolation & purification*
  • Poultry Diseases / virology*
  • RNA Virus Infections / veterinary*
  • RNA Virus Infections / virology
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA