The Belgian rotavirus strain B4106, isolated from a child with gastroenteritis, was previously found to have VP7 (G3), VP4 (P[14]), and NSP4 (A genotype) genes closely related to those of lapine rotaviruses, suggesting a possible lapine origin or natural reassortment of strain B4106. To investigate the origin of this unusual strain, the gene sequences encoding VP1, VP2, VP3, VP6, NSP1, NSP2, NSP3, and NSP5/6 were also determined. To allow comparison to a lapine strain, the 11 double-stranded RNA segments of a European G3P[14] rabbit rotavirus strain 30/96 were also determined. The complete genome similarity between strains B4106 and 30/96 was 93.4% at the nucleotide level and 96.9% at the amino acid level. All 11 genome segments of strain B4106 were closely related to those of lapine rotaviruses and clustered with the lapine strains in phylogenetic analyses. In addition, sequence analyses of the NSP5 gene of strain B4106 revealed that the altered electrophoretic mobility of NSP5, resulting in a super-short pattern, was due to a gene rearrangement (head-to-tail partial duplication, combined with two short insertions and a deletion). Altogether, these findings confirm that a rotavirus strain with an entirely lapine genome complement was able to infect and cause severe disease in a human child.Group A rotaviruses (family Reoviridae) are important enteropathogens of humans and of a large variety of mammals and birds (11, 37). The rotavirus genome consists of 11 segments of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) encoding six structural viral proteins (VP) and six nonstructural proteins (NSP) (37). A mature infectious rotavirus particle is composed of three concentric layers, consisting of a protein core, an inner protein capsid, and an outer protein capsid (84). The outer protein layer consists of VP4 and VP7, the two independent neutralization antigens of the virus, defining 26 P (proteasesensitive) and 15 G (glycoprotein) types, respectively (37,55,68,69,85). The G and P types are peculiarly distributed across the various animal species (88), suggesting host species barriers and restriction, although a number of unusual G and P types, regarded as animal-like strains, have been identified in humans in different parts of the world (85, 88).Although rotaviruses infect particular species preferentially for which they have been defined as the homologous strains, heterologous rotavirus infections occur in both natural and experimental circumstances. Studies in the rabbit and mouse models have demonstrated that only homologous virus strains replicate efficiently and spread horizontally (21,38,44). Based on a Jennerian approach, animal strains that are naturally attenuated in humans have been exploited for the construction of candidate rotavirus vaccines for humans. In a number of field trials with such candidate rotavirus vaccines, the rhesus rotavirus (RRV) strain MMU18006 and the bovine strains NCDV, UK, and WC3 were shown to replicate to a lower extent in humans than in their homologous hosts but to induce immune responses (24, 2...
A binary classification system has been established for group A rotaviruses, with the viral capsid protein VP7 defining G types and VP4 defining P types. At least 15 G types and 21 P types have been isolated globally with various G and P combinations. Most of the currently circulating human rotaviruses belong to G1P[8], G2P[4], G3P[8], and G4P[8]. We report a human rotavirus strain (B1711) with a novel genotypic VP7/VP4 combination of G6P[6]. This unique rotavirus was isolated from a 13-month-old human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative child of an HIV-seropositive Malian mother that was hospitalized with severe diarrhea in Belgium after returning from a trip to Mali. The VP7 and VP4 genes of the rotavirus strain were sequenced, and phylogenetic trees were constructed. Nucleotide and amino acid sequence comparisons with 15 known G genotypes indicated that the VP7 sequence of strain B1711 was most closely related to an American (Se584) and an Italian (PA151) human G6 strain (95 to 96% nucleotide and 98% amino acid identity). Comparison of the VP4 sequence with 21 P types showed the closest similarity to P[6] genotypes, with greatest similarity to a G8P[6] Malawi strain (mw131) (97% nucleotide and 98% amino acid identity). The B1711 strain is the first reported rotavirus isolate with a G6P[6] genotypic combination. The discovery and surveillance of novel human and nonhuman rotavirus G or P types or of novel G/P combinations is essential for the design of future rotavirus vaccines and for our understanding of rotavirus diversity and evolution.Group A rotaviruses are the single most important etiological agent associated with gastroenteritis in infants and young children (2, 40). Rotavirus-associated diarrhea leads to more than 125 million cases of infantile gastroenteritis and 870,000 deaths each year, primarily in less developed countries (54). In the United States it also results in $274 million in medical care costs and a total of $1 billion in societal costs (including indirect cost of lost parental work time) per year (47). Rotaviruses contain 11 segments of double-stranded RNA within a core shell and are members of the Reoviridae family. Each segment encodes a single viral polypeptide, for a total of five nonstructural and six structural proteins (17). The two outer capsid proteins VP7 and VP4, which independently elicit neutralizing antibodies, are the basis of a binary classification system for rotaviruses: G types (derived from the VP7 glycoprotein) and P types (derived from the protease sensitive VP4 protein). Thus far, 15 different G genotypes and 21 different P genotypes have been reported (2,26,31,48). Because VP4 and VP7 are encoded by different RNA segments, various combinations of G and P types can be observed (40). Most G genotypes were serologically confirmed as serotypes (25). Due to the lack of appropriate antibody reagents, a dual P-typing system (P serotype and P genotype) has been used (18). Strains sharing more than 89% sequence identity at the amino acid level are considered to belong to...
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