Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of dengue virus type 1 in Guangdong in 2014

Abstract

BackgroundDengue is one of the most important emerging diseases of humans, with no preventive vaccines or antiviral cures available currently. In 2014, the Southeast Asian region experienced an unprecedented outbreak of dengue, especially in Guangdong, China.Results The nucleotide sequences of the E gene from 23 patients sera of dengue virus type 1 (DENV-1) from Guangzhou, China, were determined. One isolate that was recovered from a patient with serious liver damage was designated GZ02. The whole genome sequence of GZ02 was amplified, and confocal microscopy and plaque reduction neutralization test were performed to investigate the replication kinetics in liver L02 cells. In the study, assembly and genetic comparisons showed 11 of those E gene nucleotide sequences were absolutely accordant, and the nucleic acid sequence divergence among the other strains had no marked difference.ConclusionsPhylogenetic analysis based on the E gene indicated that the 23 new strains were closely related to strains from Malaysia or Singapore. Two different genotypes (genotype I and III) of DENV-1 were co-circulating in Guangdong, Malaysia, and Singapore from 2013 to 2014. However, no recombination event was found after 2005 between DENV strains from Guangdong and Malaysia or Singapore. GZ02 had a significant replicative advantage over DG14 and the DV1 standard strain. Importation of DENV-1 from Southeast Asian countries may have been an important contributing factor to the 2014 outbreak in Guangdong.

Genomic epidemiological characteristics of dengue fever in Guangdong province, China from 2013 to 2017

“…Recombination is considered an important driver of viral evolution and adaption [34]. Numerous DENV recombinant events have been identified in previous studies [26,27,29,[34][35][36][37]. In this article, twenty recombinant isolates involving DENV1-4 were identified including each gene except 2K, and this was further conformed by the inconsistency of ML trees constructed with or without recombinant regions.…”

“…However, whether dengue disease is endemic in Guangdong province, China is controversial. Previous reports suggested that endemic prevalence introduced by imported isolates and endogenous epidemic outbreak co-triggered dengue outbreak in Guangdong in recent years [26][27][28], while Wang and his colleagues believed that DENV was an imported disease in Guangdong [29]. Compared to previous studies with conclusions made based on single E gene or few full-length genome sequences, the present study has implementation of phylogenetic, recombinant, and nucleotide variation analyses of 114 whole genome sequences combined with those published in GenBank of DENV1-4.…”

Importation of Zika Virus in China: A significant risk in southern China

“…Available studies demonstrate that the pandemic of dengue in Southeast Asia may have contributed to a series of dengue outbreaks in Guangdong province. 6 It should be noted that some Southeast Asian countries, such as Singapore and Thailand, are currently experiencing ZIKV outbreaks. As a typical mosquito-borne virus likes other Filovirus, such as dengue virus, ZIKV transmission primarily occurs when Aedes aegypti acquires a blood meal from a host.…”

Epidemiological Characterization of the 2017 Dengue Outbreak in Zhejiang, China and Molecular Characterization of the Viruses

“…The DV cases in Zhejiang Province were mainly DV serotype 2, with a small fraction of DV serotype 1, 3, and 4. To analyze the molecular evolution of the virus, a phylogenetic tree can be constructed by using specific regions of the DV genome, such as the full-length sequence, E, or E/NS1 (Huang et al, 2012 ; Wang et al, 2016 ). In this study, we analyzed the phylogenetic, molecular, and epidemiological characteristics of DV outbreaks, investigated the origin of the 36 new dengue isolates and reported the complete genome sequence of a DV-2 isolate (Zhejiang/HZ33/2017) isolated from the 2017 outbreak in Zhejiang.…”