Genomic and Pathologic Characterization of the First FAdV-C Serotype 4 Isolate from Black-Necked Crane

Xiaoyan Xue; Qinhong Yang; Ming J Wu; Zhenxing Zhang; Jianling Song; Wei Wang; Jia Yang; Jia Ji; Yongxian Zhang; Hongyang Dai; Hongbin Yin; Suhua Li

doi:10.3390/v15081653

Genomic and Pathologic Characterization of the First FAdV-C Serotype 4 Isolate from Black-Necked Crane

Viruses. 2023 Jul 29;15(8):1653. doi: 10.3390/v15081653.

Authors

Xiaoyan Xue¹, Qinhong Yang¹, Ming J Wu², Zhenxing Zhang³, Jianling Song³, Wei Wang¹, Jia Yang¹, Jia Ji¹, Yongxian Zhang⁴, Hongyang Dai⁵, Hongbin Yin⁴, Suhua Li¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Life Sciences, Southwest Forestry University, 300 Bailong Road, Kunming 650024, China.
² School of Science, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia.
³ Yunnan Tropical and Subtropical Animal Virus Diseases Laboratory, Yunnan Academy of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, 6 Qinglongshan, Kunming 650224, China.
⁴ Animal Disease Inspection and Supervision Institution of Yunnan Province, 118 Gulou Road, Kunming 650051, China.
⁵ The Management Bureau of Huize Black Necked Crane National Nature Reserve, 744 Tongbao Road, Qujing 654200, China.

Abstract

Fowl adenoviruses (FAdVs) are distributed worldwide in poultry and incriminated as the etiological agents for several health problems in fowls, and are capable of crossing species barriers between domestic and wild fowls. An FAdV strain was, for the first time, isolated from black-necked crane in this study, and was designated as serotype 4 Fowl aviadenovirus C (abbreviated as BNC2021) according to the phylogenetic analysis of its DNA polymerase and hexon gene. The viral genomic sequence analysis demonstrated that the isolate possessed the ORF deletions that are present in FAdV4 strains circulating in poultry fowls in China and the amino acid mutations associated with viral pathogenicity in the hexon and fiber 2 proteins. A viral challenge experiment with mallard ducks demonstrated systemic viral infection and horizontal transmission. BNC2021 induced the typical clinical signs of hepatitis-hydropericardium syndrome (HHS) with swelling and inflammation in multiple organs and showed significant viral replication in all eight organs tested in the virus-inoculated ducks and their contactees at 6 dpi. The findings highlight the importance of surveillance of FAdVs in wild birds.

Keywords: Fowl aviadenovirus C (FAdV-C); black-necked crane; fowl adenovirus serotype 4 (FAdV-4); mallard duck; pathologic analysis; phylogenic analysis.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Animals
Aviadenovirus*
Birds
Ducks
Genomics
Hexamethonium
Phylogeny
Sepsis*
Serogroup

Substances

Hexamethonium

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by the Open Research Fund of Yunnan Tropical and Subtropical Animal Virus Diseases Laboratory, the Yunnan Academy of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, grant number 2023; the Yunnan Center for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, grant number 1963037; and the Key Project of Yunnan Province Applied Basic Research Program, grant number: 202301AS070006.