Characterization of Fowl adenovirus serotype 4 isolated from chickens with hydropericardium syndrome based on analysis of the short fiber protein gene.

The sequences of short fiber genes of the Fowl adenovirus serotype 4 (FAdV-4), including isolates from chickens with hydropericardium syndrome (HPS), in Japan, India, and Pakistan were compared. By phylogenetic analysis based on complete nucleotide sequences of this gene, FAdV-4 strains from HPS (HPS-FAdV-4) in Japan, India, and Pakistan fell into a different cluster from FAdV-4 strains not derived from HPS. Hydropericardium syndrome-FAdV-4 isolates were differentiated from other FAdV-4 strains by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis using the enzyme the Alu I. The use of PCR-RFLP analysis of short fiber genes may be useful to distinguish among FAdV-4 strains.