Genome Sequences of Akhmeta Virus, an Early Divergent Old World Orthopoxvirus

Jinxin Gao; Crystal Gigante; Ekaterine Khmaladze; Pengbo Liu; Shiyuyun Tang; Kimberly Wilkins; Kun Zhao; Whitni Davidson; Yoshinori Nakazawa; Giorgi Maghlakelidze; Marika Geleishvili; Maka Kokhreidze; Darin S Carroll; Ginny Emerson; Yu Li

doi:10.3390/v10050252

Genome Sequences of Akhmeta Virus, an Early Divergent Old World Orthopoxvirus

Viruses. 2018 May 12;10(5):252. doi: 10.3390/v10050252.

Authors

Jinxin Gao¹, Crystal Gigante², Ekaterine Khmaladze³, Pengbo Liu⁴, Shiyuyun Tang⁵, Kimberly Wilkins⁶, Kun Zhao⁷, Whitni Davidson⁸, Yoshinori Nakazawa⁹, Giorgi Maghlakelidze¹⁰, Marika Geleishvili¹¹, Maka Kokhreidze¹², Darin S Carroll¹³, Ginny Emerson¹⁴, Yu Li¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. jgao2@cdc.gov.
² Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. lzu1@cdc.gov.
³ Laboratory of Molecular Epidemiology, National Center for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia, 9 M. Asatiani Street, Tbilisi 0177, Georgia. e.khmaladze@ncdc.ge.
⁴ Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. pliu0628@gmail.com.
⁵ Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. Tangshi06@gmail.com.
⁶ Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. ibx4@cdc.gov.
⁷ Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. vzt5@cdc.gov.
⁸ Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. wfd6@cdc.gov.
⁹ Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. inp7@cdc.gov.
¹⁰ Division of Global Health Protection (DGHP), Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. kuo9@cdc.gov.
¹¹ Division of Global Health Protection (DGHP), Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. ivu9@cdc.gov.
¹² Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia (LMA), Animal Disease Diagnostic Department, 49 Vaso Godziashvilis Street, Tbilisi 0159, Georgia. maka.kokhreidze@lma.gov.ge.
¹³ Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. DCarroll@cdc.gov.
¹⁴ Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. GEmerson@cdc.gov.
¹⁵ Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. YuLi@cdc.gov.

Abstract

Annotated whole genome sequences of three isolates of the Akhmeta virus (AKMV), a novel species of orthopoxvirus (OPXV), isolated from the Akhmeta and Vani regions of the country Georgia, are presented and discussed. The AKMV genome is similar in genomic content and structure to that of the cowpox virus (CPXV), but a lower sequence identity was found between AKMV and Old World OPXVs than between other known species of Old World OPXVs. Phylogenetic analysis showed that AKMV diverged prior to other Old World OPXV. AKMV isolates formed a monophyletic clade in the OPXV phylogeny, yet the sequence variability between AKMV isolates was higher than between the monkeypox virus strains in the Congo basin and West Africa. An AKMV isolate from Vani contained approximately six kb sequence in the left terminal region that shared a higher similarity with CPXV than with other AKMV isolates, whereas the rest of the genome was most similar to AKMV, suggesting recombination between AKMV and CPXV in a region containing several host range and virulence genes.

Keywords: Akhmeta virus; cowpox virus; orthopoxvirus; recombination.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Africa, Western
Congo
Cowpox virus / genetics
DNA, Viral / genetics
Genome, Viral*
Monkeypox virus / genetics
Orthopoxvirus / classification*
Orthopoxvirus / genetics*
Phenotype
Phylogeny
Recombination, Genetic
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Variola virus / genetics
Whole Genome Sequencing

Substances

DNA, Viral