Novel recombinant sapovirus in Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND Recombination of RNA viruses plays an important part in molecular epidemiological study, virus evolution, vaccine design, and viral control programs. Sapovirus, a member of the family Caliciviridae, is one of the major causative agents of viral gastroenteritis affecting all age groups. METHODS Sapovirus capsid and polymerase regions were amplified by PCR using specific primers. PCR products were sequenced directly and sequence analysis was performed using CLUSTAL X, SimPlot, and MEGA 4 software package. RESULTS Based on the genetic analysis, a novel, naturally occurring recombinant sapovirus strain was identified in Bangladesh. Breakpoint analysis of the recombinant sapovirus showed that the recombination site was at the open reading frame ORF1/ORF2 overlap. CONCLUSIONS We described the genetic characterization of a novel, naturally occurring recombinant sapovirus and provided the first evidence of recombination in sapovirus in Bangladesh.