Comparative analysis of a Thai congenital-Zika-syndrome-associated virus with a Thai Zika-fever-associated virus

Arch Virol. 2020 Aug;165(8):1791-1801. doi: 10.1007/s00705-020-04667-7. Epub 2020 May 30.

Abstract

In this study, we compared the characteristics of two strains of Zika virus (ZIKV) isolated in Thailand, one isolated from a febrile patient and one isolated from tissues of a fetus medically terminated due to congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). Replication profiles showed that the isolate from the fetal tissues replicated significantly more slowly than the fever-associated isolate in human lung A549 cells during the first 24 hours postinfection but showed a similar growth profile over longer-term infection. A much smaller difference was observed in Aedes albopictus C6/36 cells. In a quasispecies analysis, a high proportion (approximately 20%) of nonfunctional genomes was identified, caused by an adenine insertion in the prM gene. This insertion was found to be present in two Thai fever strains and as such may represent a common feature of Thai endemic ZIKV. Comparison between viral RNA copy number and viral titer showed that the isolate from fetal tissues was produced more efficiently than the fever-associated isolate. Together, these results suggest that different ZIKV isolates differ in their replication capacity, and this might contribute to the fetotropic potential of a particular strain.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • A549 Cells
  • Aedes / virology
  • Animals
  • Cell Line
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Chlorocebus aethiops
  • Fetus / virology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • RNA, Viral / genetics
  • Satellite Viruses / genetics*
  • Thailand
  • Vero Cells
  • Viral Load / genetics
  • Virus Replication / genetics
  • Zika Virus / genetics*
  • Zika Virus Infection / virology*

Substances

  • RNA, Viral