Major changes in the G protein of human respiratory syncytial virus isolates introduced by a duplication of 60 nucleotides

Abstract

The entire nucleotide sequence of the G gene of three human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) isolates (antigenic group B) has been determined. These three viruses (named BA viruses) were isolated in Buenos Aires in 1999 from specimens collected in different hospitals and at different dates. BA viruses have an exact duplication of 60 nucleotides in the G gene, starting after residue 791. This duplication is flanked by a repeat of four nucleotides (GUGU) and can fold into a relatively stable secondary structure. These features suggest a possible mechanism for the generation of a duplicated G segment. The predicted polypeptide is lengthened by 20 amino acids (residues 260-279) and this is reflected in the slower electrophoretic mobility of the G protein precursor of BA viruses compared with related viruses. The changes reported here expand the examples of drastic genetic alterations that can be introduced into the G protein sequence of HRSV while it replicates in its natural host.

Retrospective phylogenetic analysis of circulating BA genotype of human respiratory syncytial virus with 60 bp duplication from New Delhi, India during 2007–2010

“…The nucleotide sequences spanned 655-900 bp of prototype BA strain (BA/4128/99B; GenBank accession number AY333364) [20]. The study sequences were aligned with the sequences downloaded from GenBank (Supplementary Table 1) using CLUSTAL X (version 1.83) software.…”

“…The BA genotype has 60 nucleotide duplication in the second hypervariable region of the G protein gene. This genotype was first detected in Buenos Aires in South America in 1999 [20]. Subsequently, this genotype was reported from various geographical regions such as USA, Japan, Denmark, Canada, United Kingdom, China, Korea, Croatia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Brazil [2-4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22, 26].…”

“…Subsequently, this genotype was reported from various geographical regions such as USA, Japan, Denmark, Canada, United Kingdom, China, Korea, Croatia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Brazil [2-4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22, 26]. Worldwide rapid dissemination of this genotype suggests that it has a selective advantage over other genotypes of hRSV [20].…”

Molecular epidemiology and genetic variability of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in Stockholm, 2002–2003

“…1 and 2) [Venter et al, 2001[Venter et al, , 2002. However, it is not known if the 152 viruses designated as subgroup B could be further divided with regard to the 60 nucleotide duplication in the C-terminal part of the G gene as described elsewhere [Trento et al, 2003] since this part of the G gene was not sequenced. The 82 subgroup A viruses could be further divided into two known genotypes, GA2 (25) and GA5 (57) [Peret et al, 1998[Peret et al, , 2000.…”

“…Accordingly, most studies of RSV phylogeny are based on the nucleotide variation of the C-terminal part of the G-gene [Peret et al, 1998[Peret et al, , 2000Venter et al, 2001Venter et al, , 2002Madhi et al, 2003;Sato et al, 2005]. It is only possible to differentiate new strains by sequencing the C-terminal, such as the RSV subgroup B strains with the 60 nucleotide duplication [Trento et al, 2003]. One of the few published European studies including a large number of strains (73) investigated the N-terminal part of the G gene in samples from 1995 to 1998 [Zambon et al, 2001].…”