Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100081, China.
Viruses. 2023 Oct 14;15(10):2090. doi: 10.3390/v15102090.
As an epizootic causative agent, the Getah virus (GETV) can cause moderate illness in horses, lethal disease in foxes, and reproductive disorders and fetal death in pigs. Due to the wide range of hosts and multiple routes of transmission, GETV has become a growing potential threat to the global livestock industry, and even to public health. More attention and research on GETV are urgently needed. In this study, we successfully isolated a novel GETV strain, named BJ0304, from a commercial live vaccine against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) and determined its growth kinetics. Then, genetic and phylogenetic analyses were performed. The results revealed that BJ0304 was clustered into Group III, and it was most related to the GETV-V1 strain based on the complete genome sequence. Furthermore, the pathogenicity of the isolate was assessed and found to be a low virulent strain in mice relative to its closest homolog GETV-V1. Finally, mutation and glycosylation analysis showed that a unique mutation (171 T > I) at one amino acid of E2, which affected the glycosylation of E2, may be associated with viral pathogenicity. In summary, the general characteristic of a novel Group III-classified GETV-BJ0304 isolated from commercial live PRRSV vaccine was defined and then mutation/glycosylation-related potential virulence factor was discussed. This study highlights the complexity of GETV transmission routes in swine and the need for more surveillance on commercial animal vaccines, contributes to the understanding of genetic characterization of clinical isolates, provides possible virulence factors in favor of unveiling the viral pathogenesis, and eventually lays the foundation for the prevention and control of GETV.
作为一种动物疫病病原，鹊山病毒（GETV）可引起马属动物中等程度发病，狐属动物致死性发病，以及猪繁殖与呼吸综合征。由于宿主范围广泛且存在多种传播途径，GETV已成为对全球畜牧业，甚至公共卫生的潜在威胁。因此，迫切需要对 GETV 进行更多的关注和研究。本研究从商品化猪繁殖与呼吸综合征病毒（PRRSV）活疫苗中成功分离到一株新型 GETV 毒株 BJ0304，并对其生长动力学、遗传进化和致病性进行了分析。结果表明，BJ0304 属于基因 III 型 GETV，与 GETV-V1 株亲缘关系最近。与 GETV-V1 株相比，BJ0304 在小鼠中的致病力较弱，表明其为低毒力毒株。进一步分析发现，E2 蛋白 171 位氨基酸的点突变（171 T > I）可能影响 E2 蛋白的糖基化，与病毒的致病性相关。综上所述，本研究对分离自商品化 PRRSV 活疫苗的新型 GETV-BJ0304 株的生物学特性进行了初步分析，探讨了与病毒毒力相关的潜在突变和糖基化位点，为进一步揭示 GETV 的分子致病机制奠定了基础。
