Genetic Characterization of a Novel, Naturally Occurring Recombinant Human G6P[6] Rotavirus

ABSTRACT A binary classification system has been established for group A rotaviruses, with the viral capsid protein VP7 defining G types and VP4 defining P types. At least 15 G types and 21 P types have been isolated globally with various G and P combinations. Most of the currently circulating human rotaviruses belong to G1P[8], G2P[4], G3P[8], and G4P[8]. We report a human rotavirus strain (B1711) with a novel genotypic VP7/VP4 combination of G6P[6]. This unique rotavirus was isolated from a 13-month-old human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)- negative child of an HIV-seropositive Malian mother that was hospitalized with severe diarrhea in Belgium after returning from a trip to Mali. The VP7 and VP4 genes of the rotavirus strain were sequenced, and phylogenetic trees were constructed. Nucleotide and amino acid sequence comparisons with 15 known G genotypes indicated that the VP7 sequence of strain B1711 was most closely related to an American (Se584) and an Italian (PA151) human G6 strain (95 to 96% nucleotide and 98% amino acid identity). Comparison of the VP4 sequence with 21 P types showed the closest similarity to P[6] genotypes, with greatest similarity to a G8P[6] Malawi strain (mw131) (97% nucleotide and 98% amino acid identity). The B1711 strain is the first reported rotavirus isolate with a G6P[6] genotypic combination. The discovery and surveillance of novel human and nonhuman rotavirus G or P types or of novel G/P combinations is essential for the design of future rotavirus vaccines and for our understanding of rotavirus diversity and evolution.

[1]  R. Audu,et al.  Molecular Epidemiology of Rotaviruses in Nigeria: Detection of Unusual Strains with G2P[6] and G8P[1] Specificities , 2003, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[2]  R. Glass,et al.  Diversity of Rotavirus Strains among Children with Acute Diarrhea in China: 1998-2000 Surveillance Study , 2002, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[3]  G. Kang,et al.  Molecular epidemiology of rotaviral infection in South Indian children with acute diarrhea from 1995–1996 to 1998–1999 , 2002, Journal of medical virology.

[4]  C. Hart,et al.  Detection and Characterization of Rotaviruses in Hospitalized Neonates in Blantyre, Malawi , 2002, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[5]  R. Glass,et al.  Characterization of nontypeable rotavirus strains from the United States: identification of a new rotavirus reassortant (P2A[6],G12) and rare P3[9] strains related to bovine rotaviruses. , 2002, Virology.

[6]  Y. Matsumoto,et al.  Bovine rotavirus G and P types and sequence analysis of the VP7 gene of two G8 bovine rotaviruses from Japan. , 2002, Veterinary microbiology.

[7]  Sudhir Kumar,et al.  MEGA2: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis software , 2001, Bioinform..

[8]  R. Glass,et al.  Great Diversity of Group A Rotavirus Strains and High Prevalence of Mixed Rotavirus Infections in India , 2001, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[9]  F. Binka,et al.  Rotavirus G and P Genotypes in Rural Ghana , 2001, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[10]  E. Palombo,et al.  Characterisation and phylogenetic analysis of the VP7 proteins of serotype G6 and G8 human rotaviruses. , 2001, Journal of medical microbiology.

[11]  J. Leite,et al.  Rotavirus Genotypes P[4]G9, P[6]G9, and P[8]G9 in Hospitalized Children with Acute Gastroenteritis in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil , 2001, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[12]  M. Molyneux,et al.  Rotavirus Strain Diversity in Blantyre, Malawi, from 1997 to 1999 , 2001, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[13]  V. Chizhikov,et al.  Rotavirus Strains Bearing Genotype G9 or P[9] Recovered from Brazilian Children with Diarrhea from 1997 to 1999 , 2001, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[14]  A. Oduro,et al.  Prevalence of unusual human rotavirus strains in Ghanaian children , 2001, Journal of medical virology.

[15]  V. Martella,et al.  Genomic Characterization of Porcine Rotaviruses in Italy , 2001, Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology.

[16]  M. Iturriza-Gómara,et al.  Molecular Epidemiology of Human Group A Rotavirus Infections in the United Kingdom between 1995 and 1998 , 2000, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[17]  C. Rao,et al.  Sequence analysis of VP4 and VP7 genes of nontypeable strains identifies a new pair of outer capsid proteins representing novel P and G genotypes in bovine rotaviruses. , 2000, Virology.

[18]  F. O’Halloran,et al.  Molecular Characterization of Rotavirus in Ireland: Detection of Novel Strains Circulating in the Population , 2000, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[19]  J. Buesa,et al.  VP7 and VP4 genotypes among rotavirus strains recovered from children with gastroenteritis over a 3-year period in Valencia, Spain , 2000, European Journal of Epidemiology.

[20]  E. Kohli,et al.  G and P Genotyping of Rotavirus Strains Circulating in France over a Three-Year Period: Detection of G9 and P[6] Strains at Low Frequencies , 2000, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[21]  K. Mise,et al.  New P serotype of group A human rotavirus closely related to that of a porcine rotavirus , 2000, Journal of medical virology.

[22]  K. Mølbak,et al.  Genotype Profiles of Rotavirus Strains from Children in a Suburban Community in Guinea-Bissau, Western Africa , 2000, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[23]  A. Lavazza,et al.  Determination of Bovine Rotavirus G and P Serotypes in Italy by PCR , 1999, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[24]  F. Schelcher,et al.  Molecular epidemiology or bovine rotaviruses from the Charolais area. , 1999, Veterinary research.

[25]  R. Glass,et al.  Evidence of High-Frequency Genomic Reassortment of Group A Rotavirus Strains in Bangladesh: Emergence of Type G9 in 1995 , 1999, Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

[26]  H. Greenberg,et al.  Virus-like particle-induced fusion from without in tissue culture cells: role of outer-layer proteins VP4 and VP7 , 1997, Journal of virology.

[27]  R. Chanock,et al.  Efficacy of a quadrivalent rhesus rotavirus-based human rotavirus vaccine aimed at preventing severe rotavirus diarrhea in infants and young children. , 1996, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[28]  P. Seth,et al.  Classification of rotavirus into G and P types with specimens from children with acute diarrhea in New Delhi, India , 1996, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[29]  E. Palombo,et al.  Genetic and antigenic characterization of a serotype G6 human rotavirus isolated in melbourne, Australia , 1995, Journal of medical virology.

[30]  A. Steele,et al.  Geographic distribution of human rotavirus VP4 genotypes and VP7 serotypes in five South African regions , 1995, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[31]  J. Thompson,et al.  CLUSTAL W: improving the sensitivity of progressive multiple sequence alignment through sequence weighting, position-specific gap penalties and weight matrix choice. , 1994, Nucleic acids research.

[32]  G. Gerna,et al.  A comparison of the VP7 gene sequences of human and bovine rotaviruses. , 1994, The Journal of general virology.

[33]  M. Gorziglia,et al.  The outer capsid protein VP4 of murine rotavirus strain Eb represents a tentative new P type. , 1994, Virology.

[34]  H. Nagesha,et al.  Comparative sequence analysis of VP4s from five Australian porcine rotaviruses: implication of an apparent new P type. , 1993, Virology.

[35]  R. Glass,et al.  Identification of group A rotavirus gene 4 types by polymerase chain reaction , 1992, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[36]  G. Gerna,et al.  Isolation and characterization of two distinct human rotavirus strains with G6 specificity , 1992, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[37]  G. Browning,et al.  A novel group A rotavirus G serotype: serological and genomic characterization of equine isolate FI23 , 1991, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[38]  G. Browning,et al.  Serological and genomic characterization of L338, a novel equine group A rotavirus G serotype. , 1991, The Journal of general virology.

[39]  E. Myers,et al.  Basic local alignment search tool. , 1990, Journal of molecular biology.

[40]  R. Chanock,et al.  Antigenic relationships among human rotaviruses as determined by outer capsid protein VP4. , 1990, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[41]  H. Greenberg,et al.  Rotavirus serotypes 6 and 10 predominate in cattle , 1990, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[42]  R. Glass,et al.  Polymerase chain reaction amplification and typing of rotavirus nucleic acid from stool specimens , 1990, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[43]  M. Estes,et al.  Rotavirus gene structure and function. , 1989, Microbiological reviews.

[44]  K. Green,et al.  Sequence analysis of the gene encoding the serotype-specific glycoprotein (VP7) of two new human rotavirus serotypes. , 1989, Virology.

[45]  R. Chanock,et al.  Sequence of the fourth gene of human rotaviruses recovered from asymptomatic or symptomatic infections , 1988, Journal of virology.

[46]  A. Parwani,et al.  The characterization of VP7 (G type) and VP4 (P type) genes of bovine group A rotaviruses from field samples using RT-PCR and RFLP analysis , 2005, Archives of Virology.

[47]  G. Gerna,et al.  Serotype G6 human rotavirus sharing a conserved genetic constellation with natural reassortants between members of the bovine and AU-1 genogroups , 2005, Archives of Virology.

[48]  S. Mummidi,et al.  Sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the VP7 gene of a bovine rotavirus with G6 subtype , 2004, Virus Genes.

[49]  A. Parwani,et al.  Comparative sequence analysis of the VP7 genes of G6, G8 and G10 bovine group A rotaviruses and further characterization of G6 subtypes , 2000, Archives of Virology.

[50]  J. Gray,et al.  Methods of rotavirus detection, sero- and genotyping, sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis. , 2000, Methods in molecular medicine.

[51]  K. Nicholas,et al.  GeneDoc: Analysis and visualization of genetic variation , 1997 .

[52]  R. Bishop Natural history of human rotavirus infection. , 1996, Archives of virology. Supplementum.

[53]  E. Palombo Genetic and antigenic characterization of a serotype G6 human rotavirus isolated in Melbourne , 1995 .