Molecular characterization of the complete genome sequence of human Parechovirus 1 in Pakistan.

Human parechoviruses (HPeVs) are highly common pathogens in children under 2 years of age. Of the 19 distinct HPeV genotypes identified worldwide, HPeV1 is still the most prevalent type associated with respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms in infants and young children. Pakistan's previous studies have focused only on the detection and partial sequencing of HPeV genotypes. In the present study, we have obtained the complete genomes of 2 HPeV1 strains (PAK419 and PAK663) from children using NGS method on Illumina Hiseq Platform. These samples were collected from children suffering from acute gastroenteritis in Rawalpindi, Pakistan during 2016. The near complete genome sequences obtained for two HPeV1 strains (PAK419 and PAK663) consist of total 6877 nucleotides with a single, large open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polyprotein gene. Phylogenetic analysis showed that both HPeV1 strains exhibited maximum amino acid similarity (97 %) to HPeV1 strains from The Nederlands (2007-863, GQ183034) and clustered closely with this and with other HPeV1 strains isolated from other countries in the world (Ethiopia, Taiwan, Russia and Brazil). A motif of arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) in the VP1 (Outer capsid protein) C-terminus region that is suggested to help virus entry into the host cell also identified in PAK419 and PAK663. SimPlot analysis revealed that intergenotypic recombination events may have take place in the non-structural region between both HPeV1 strains (PAK419, PAK663), two major strains of HPeV1 (GQ183034 and MG873157) and four minor strains of HPeV4 (AM235750), HPeV7 (EU556224), HPeV15 (MN265386) and HPeV18 (KT879915). The full genome of HPeV1 strains characterized in the current study will provide complete information on these newly isolated strains for further preventive or treatment measures.