Resolving Bovine viral diarrhea virus subtypes from persistently infected U.S. beef calves with complete genome sequence

Authors

Aspen M. Workman, U.S. Meat Animal Research CenterFollow
Michael P. Heaton, U.S. Meat Animal Research CenterFollow
Gregory P. Harhay, U.S. Meat Animal Research CenterFollow
Timothy P.L. Smith, U.S. Meat Animal Research CenterFollow
Dale M. Grotelueschen, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow
David Sjeklocha, Cattle Empire LLC
Bruce Brodersen, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow
Jessica L. Petersen, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow
Carol G. Chitko-McKown, U.S. Meat Animal Research CenterFollow

ORCID IDs

Jessica L. Petersen

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2016

Citation

Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation 1– 10

Comments

© 2016 The Author(s)

Abstract

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is classified into 2 genotypes, BVDV-1 and BVDV-2, each of which contains distinct subtypes with genetic and antigenic variation. To effectively control BVDV by vaccination, it is important to know which subtypes of the virus are circulating and how their prevalence is changing over time. Accordingly, the purpose of our study was to estimate the current prevalence and diversity of BVDV subtypes from persistently infected (PI) beef calves in the central United States. Phylogenetic analysis of the 5′-UTR (5′ untranslated region) for 119 virus strains revealed that a majority (82%) belonged to genotype 1b, and the remaining strains were distributed between genotypes 1a (9%) and 2 (8%); however, BVDV-2 subtypes could not be confidently resolved. Therefore, to better define the variability of U.S. BVDV isolates and further investigate the division of BVDV-2 isolates into subtypes, complete genome sequences were obtained for these isolates as well as representatives of BVDV-1a and -1b. Phylogenetic analyses of the complete coding sequence provided more conclusive genetic classification and revealed that U.S. BVDV-2 isolates belong to at least 3 distinct genetic groups that are statistically supported by both complete and individual coding gene analyses. These results show that a more complex set of BVDV-2 subtypes has been circulating in this region than was previously thought.