Department of Virology, Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia, Janisa Janulisa 14, Belgrade, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia.
Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 16, Belgrade, 11000, Serbia.
BMC Vet Res. 2024 Sep 21;20(1):426. doi: 10.1186/s12917-024-04284-5.
Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a highly contagious and often fatal disease affecting wild and domesticated carnivores. The virus is a single-stranded RNA virus from the genus Morbillivirus and the family Paramyxoviridae. While domestic dogs are the most common hosts, the virus poses a significant threat to endangered wildlife due to its broad host range. This study aimed to characterize the CDV Haemagglutinin (H) gene in golden jackals and explore the molecular evolution of the virus in an underrepresented host. A total of 88 brain samples from hunted golden jackals were tested for the presence of CDV viral nucleic acid, and the H gene of positive samples was amplified and sequenced using the Sanger method. Phylogenetic analysis, conducted using maximum likelihood methods, revealed that all Serbian sequences clustered within the Arctic lineage. Notably, the analysis identified a tyrosine (Y) at position 549 of the H protein, a mutation commonly associated with wildlife hosts, instead of the histidine (H) typically found in domestic strains. Additionally, a mutation at position 310 was observed, which could potentially affect the protein's function and virus-host interactions. These findings provide valuable insights into the genetic diversity and evolutionary dynamics of CDV in golden jackals, with broader implications for understanding the virus's adaptability to different hosts. Further research is needed to investigate the functional impact of these mutations, particularly their role in vaccine efficacy and disease transmission across wildlife and domestic species.
犬瘟热病毒（CDV）是一种高度传染性且常常致命的疾病，影响野生和家养食肉动物。该病毒是一种单链 RNA 病毒，属于麻疹病毒属和副粘病毒科。虽然家犬是最常见的宿主，但由于其广泛的宿主范围，该病毒对濒危野生动物构成了重大威胁。本研究旨在对金豺中的犬瘟热病毒血凝素（H）基因进行特征描述，并探索该病毒在代表性不足的宿主中的分子进化。共对 88 份来自被猎杀的金豺的脑组织样本进行了犬瘟热病毒核酸检测，对阳性样本的 H 基因进行扩增和 Sanger 测序。使用最大似然法进行的系统进化分析表明，所有塞尔维亚序列均聚类在北极谱系内。值得注意的是，分析确定 H 蛋白第 549 位的酪氨酸（Y）取代了通常在国内株中发现的组氨酸（H），这是与野生动物宿主相关的常见突变。此外，还观察到第 310 位的突变，这可能会影响蛋白的功能和病毒-宿主相互作用。这些发现为了解 CDV 在金豺中的遗传多样性和进化动态提供了有价值的见解，对理解病毒适应不同宿主的能力具有更广泛的意义。需要进一步研究这些突变的功能影响，特别是它们在疫苗效力和野生动物与家养物种之间的疾病传播中的作用。
