Comparison of the distribution patterns of BK polyomavirus lineages among China, Korea and Japan: Implications for human migrations in northeast Asia

Abstract

BKV is widespread among humans, infecting children asymptomatically and then persisting in renal tissue. Based on the serological or phylogenetic method, BKV isolates worldwide are classified into four subtypes (I-IV), with subtypes I and IV further divided into several genetically-distinct subgroups. Since, similarly to JCV, a close relationship exists between BKV lineages and human populations, BKV should be useful as a marker to trace human migrations. To elucidate ancient human migrations in northeast Asia, urine samples were collected from immunocompetent elderly patients in Shanghai, China; Anyang, South Korea; and various locations in Japan. Partial and complete BKV genomes from these samples were amplified and sequenced using PCR, and the determined sequences were classified into subtypes and subgroups by phylogenetic and SNP analyses. In addition, based on an SNP analysis, the major subtype I subgroup (I/c) was classified into two subdivisions, I/c/Ch and I/c/KJ. The distribution patterns of BKV subgroups and subdivisions among the three regions were compared. Some aspects of the subgroup and subdivision distribution were more similar between Korea and Japan, but others were more similar between China and Korea or between China and Japan. Based on these findings, we inferred various northeast Asian migrations. Most of the JCV-based inferences of northeastern Asian migrations were consistent with those based on BKV, but the previously suggested migration route from the Asian continent to the Japanese archipelago seemed to need revision.

Evolution of the BK polyomavirus: epidemiological, anthropological and clinical implications

“…In addition, based on the SNP analysis, the major subtype I subgroup (Ic) was classified into two subdivisions, Ic/Ch and Ic/KJ. Zhong et al [28] found that Korea and Japan shared two features in the distribution of BKV lineages. First, a subdivision (Ic/KJ) of subgroup Ic was mainly detected in Korea and Japan, whereas another subdivision (Ic/Ch) occurred predominantly in China; and second, of the various subtype IV subgroups, IVb2 occurred predominantly or at the highest rate in Korea and Japan, and rarely in China.…”

“…In 1993, Jin et al [10] PCR-amplified and sequenced a 287-bp VP1 region (also designated as the 287-bp typing region, and referred to as TR in Figure 1) of the BKV genome that contained a possible epitope region responsible for serological discrimination among subtypes, and the resultant sequences were used to detect subtype-specific single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The sequence variation within this region has since been used to classify BKV strains in various laboratories [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28], and the results of these studies showed the following distribution pattern for BKV subtypes. Subtype I is widespread in the world, subtype IV shows a geographic distribution that is biased towards East Asia and Europe and subtypes II and III are rarely detected worldwide.…”

“…To further examine the route of Yayoi migration, Zhong et al [28] collected urine samples from immunocompetent elderly patients in Shanghai, China; Anyang, South Korea and various locations in Japan. Partial and complete BKV genomes from these samples were amplified and sequenced using PCR, and the sequences were classified into subtypes and subgroups by phylogenetic and SNP analyses.…”

“…Representative complete BKV DNA sequences, excluding the regulatory sequences, were aligned and used to reconstruct a tree using the NJ method [34]. The human populations from which the sequences were recovered are indicated [12,[24][25][26]28,29]. The tree was visualised using baboon polyomavirus SA12 [35] as the outgroup.…”

Absence of Association between the Incidence of BK Virus and Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

“…Previously, the incidence of BKV in the urine of immunocompetent individuals in the Korean population has been reported [35]. 35% of the examined immunocompetent individuals were BKV-positive.…”