Lv Qiuchi, Fu Yiliang, Zhao Hongwei, Xie Zhengde, Xu Lili
Beijing Key Laboratory of Core Technologies for the Prevention and Treatment of Emerging Infectious Diseases in Children, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, National Key Discipline of Pediatrics (Capital Medical University), Beijing Research Center for Respiratory Infectious Diseases, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, China.
Research Unit of Critical Infection in Children, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 2019RU016, China.
Virol J. 2025 Jun 30;22(1):212. doi: 10.1186/s12985-025-02846-z.
Human bocavirus (HBoV) is an emerging pathogen associated with pediatric respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, yet its genetic diversity remains understudied. The aberrant global resurgence of other respiratory viruses after the COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns regarding significant evolutionary shifts in viral genetic profiles. Accordingly, this study characterized HBoV isolates that circulated in Beijing during 2023 by analyzing 1,442 pediatric respiratory samples associated with acute respiratory tract infections. Among 43 HBoV-positive cases with a 2.98% detection rate, 11 complete genomes were sequenced and classified as HBoV1 through phylogenetic analysis. Amino acid substitutions in VP1, including the prevalent N474S mutation (95.3% frequency in GenBank), were predicted via structural modeling to alter hydrogen-bonding networks, potentially enhancing viral stability. Entropy analysis confirmed the high variability of VP1, whereas selective pressure analysis revealed conserved sites under purifying selection in the NP1 and VP1 proteins. Notably, the S79N substitution in NP1 introduced a putatively N-glycosylation site while a putatively O-glycosylation site was lost in four isolates, may suggesting functional implications. No recombination events were detected. These findings provide critical insights into the molecular evolution of HBoV1 and inform future research on antiviral strategies.
人博卡病毒（HBoV）是一种与儿童呼吸道和胃肠道感染相关的新兴病原体，但其遗传多样性仍未得到充分研究。在新冠疫情之后，其他呼吸道病毒在全球异常复苏，这引发了人们对病毒基因图谱发生重大进化转变的担忧。因此，本研究通过分析1442份与急性呼吸道感染相关的儿童呼吸道样本，对2023年在北京传播的HBoV分离株进行了特征分析。在43例HBoV阳性病例中，检出率为2.98%，通过系统发育分析对其中11个完整基因组进行了测序并分类为HBoV1。通过结构建模预测，VP1中的氨基酸替换，包括普遍存在的N474S突变（在GenBank中的频率为95.3%），会改变氢键网络，可能增强病毒稳定性。熵分析证实了VP1的高变异性，而选择压力分析揭示了NP1和VP1蛋白中在纯化选择下的保守位点。值得注意的是，NP1中的S79N替换引入了一个假定的N-糖基化位点，而在四个分离株中一个假定的O-糖基化位点丢失，这可能暗示了功能上的影响。未检测到重组事件。这些发现为HBoV1的分子进化提供了关键见解，并为未来抗病毒策略的研究提供了参考。
