Characterization of the biological properties and complete genome sequence analysis of a cattle-derived rabies virus isolate from the Guangxi province of southern China

Abstract

In this study, a street rabies virus isolate, GXHXN, was obtained from the brain of one rabid cattle in Guangxi province of southern China. To characterize the biological properties of GXHXN, we first evaluated its pathogenicity using 4-week-old adult mice. GXHXN was highly pathogenic with a short incubation period and course of disease. Its LD50 of 10(-6.86)/mL is significantly higher than the LD50 of 10(-5.19)/mL of GXN119, a dog-derived rabies virus isolate. It also displayed a higher neurotropism index than the rRC-HL strain. However, the relative neurotropism index of GXHXN was slightly lower than that of GXN119. Analyzing antigenicity using anti-N and anti-G monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), all tested anti-N MAbs reacted similarly to GXHXN, CVS, and rRC-HL, but the reaction of anti-N MAbs to GXHXN was slightly different from GXN119. Moreover, 2/11 tested anti-G mAbs showed weaker reactivity to GXHXN than rRC-HL, whereas 4/11 showed stronger reactivity to GXHXN than CVS and GXN119, indicating that the structures of G might differ. In order to understand its genetic variation and evolution, the complete GXHXN genome sequence was determined and compared with the known 12 isolates from other mammals. A total of 42 nucleotide substitutions were found in the full-length genome, including 15 non-synonymous mutations. The G gene accounts for the highest nucleotide substitution rate of 0.70 % in ORF and an amino acid substitution rate of 0.95 %. Phylogenetic trees based on the complete genome sequence as well as the N and G gene sequences from 37 known rabies isolates from various mammals demonstrated that the GXHXN is closely related to the BJ2011E isolate from a horse in Beijing, the WH11 isolate from a donkey in Hubei, and isolates from dogs in the Fujian and Zhejiang provinces. These findings will be helpful in exploring the molecular mechanisms underlying interspecies transmission and the genetic variation of the rabies virus in different mammal species.

Large-Scale Phylogenomic Analysis Reveals the Complex Evolutionary History of Rabies Virus in Multiple Carnivore Hosts

“…In addition, most of these phylogenetic studies were performed on relatively small numbers of sequences originating from one specific geographical area and/or associated with a specific animal host [20, 22, 30, 32, 33]. Despite these limitations, these studies are consistent in showing that RABV is subject to strong purifying selection [10] coupled to geographical clustering that is occasionally disrupted by human mediated dispersion [13, 34, 35].…”

Different rabies outbreaks on two beef cattle farms in the same province of China: Diagnosis, virus characterization and epidemiological analysis

“…In the last decade, there has been an increase in the occurrence and/or reporting of rabies in livestock like cattle in China (Liu et al., 2016; Tang et al., 2014; Yin et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2011), but no on‐farm investigation has been reported. This is probably the first detailed report on rabies outbreaks in two cattle herds as well as the biosecurity status and vaccination efficacy for at‐risk cattle.…”

Genetic diversity, evolutionary dynamics and pathogenicity of ferret badger rabies virus variants in mainland China, 2008-2018

“…All animals experiments described in this paper have been conducted according to the Guideline on the Humane Treatment of Laboratory Animals stipulated by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (MOST) (46) and approved by the Animal Welfare Committee of the Institute of Military Veterinary Medicine, Changchun, China. All animals were housed in a climate-controlled laboratory with a 12 h day/12 h night cycle.…”