Genome constellations of 24 porcine rotavirus group A strains circulating on commercial Thai swine farms between 2011 and 2016

PLoS One. 2019 Jan 23;14(1):e0211002. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211002. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Rotavirus A (RVA) infection is a major cause of diarrhea-related illness in young children. RVA is also one of the most common enteric viruses detected on pig farms and contributes to substantial morbidity and mortality in piglets. Long-term multi-site surveillance of RVA on Thai swine farms to determine the diversity of RVA strains in circulation is currently lacking. In this study, we characterized the 11 segments of the RVA genome from 24 Thai porcine RVA strains circulating between 2011 and 2016. We identified G9 (15/24) and P[13] (12/24) as the dominant genotypes. The dominant G and P combinations were G9P[13] (n = 6), G9P[23] (n = 6), G3P[13] (n = 5), G9P[19] (n = 3), G4P[6] (n = 2), G4P[19] (n = 1), and G5P[13] (n = 1). Genome constellation of the Thai strains showed the predominance of Wa-like genotype (Gx-P[x]-I1/I5-R1-C1-M1-A8-N1-T1/T7-E1/E9-H1) with evidence of reassortment between the porcine and human RVA strains (e.g., G4-P[6]-I1-R1-C1-M1-A8-N1-T1-E1-H1 and G9-P[19]-I5-R1-C1-M1-A8-N1-T7-E9-H1). To assess the potential effectiveness of rotavirus vaccination, the Thai RVA strains were compared to the RVA strains represented in the swine rotavirus vaccine, which showed residue variations in the antigenic epitope on VP7 and shared amino acid identity below 90% for G4 and G5 strain. Several previous studies suggested these variations might effect on virus neutralization specificity and vaccine efficacy. Our study illustrates the importance of RVA surveillance beyond the G/P genotyping on commercial swine farms, which is crucial for controlling viral transmission.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antigens, Viral / genetics*
  • Epitopes / genetics*
  • Genome, Viral
  • Humans
  • Rotavirus / genetics*
  • Rotavirus Infections / genetics*
  • Rotavirus Infections / virology
  • Swine
  • Swine Diseases

Substances

  • Antigens, Viral
  • Epitopes

Grants and funding

This work was supported by The 100th Anniversary Chulalongkorn University Fund for doctoral scholarship to Supansa Tuanthap, The Research Chair Grant from NSTDA (P-15-50004), Thailand Research Fund (RTA6080012), and The Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology (GCE 59-009-30-005). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.