Molecular characterization of the gag gene of caprine arthritis encephalitis virus from goats in the Philippines

Abstract

Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) causes caprine arthritis encephalitis syndrome, which is an emerging disease of goats in the Philippines. DNA sequence analysis showed homology of 86-93 % between Philippine CAEV and available CAEV sequences in GenBank. CAEV was detected using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and new sets of primers were designed in order to amplify the gag gene, which is a highly conserved region of the viral genome. In addition, the Philippine CAEV isolate clustered in group B with the prototype caprine lentivirus. Based on amino acid sequence alignments, it is possible that the Philippine CAEV isolate is a new strain of CAEV, but it is also possible that it was already present in the country even before the start of goat importation. Molecular characterization of the CAEV gag gene is important for the development of a detection kit specific for the local strain of CAEV and the establishment of small ruminant lentivirus eradication programs in the Philippines. This study is the first report to describe the molecular characteristics of CAEV circulating in the Philippines.

Initial multi-target approach shows importance of improved caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus control program in Russia for hobbyist goat farms

“…Real-time polymerase chain reaction result of plasmid DNA containing marker DNA caprine arthritisencephalitis virus (CAEV). Amplification curves of CAEV, respectively, using serial ten-fold dilutions of the mixed recombinant plasmids from, 1×10 11 , 1×10 10 , 1×10 9 , 1×10 8 , 1×10 7 , 1×10 6 , 1×10 5 , 1×10 4 , 1×10 3 , and 100 copies/mL. Veterinary World, EISSN: 2231-0916 1723…”

“…CAEV was initially isolated from an infected adult goat in the United States more than 40 years ago [3]. Since that initial report, the prevalence of CAEV has been reported in many countries [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Several reports describe the detection of specific CAEV antibodies in Russian goat populations, which indicates the circulation of CAEV in Russian goat farms [11][12][13][14].…”

“…Meanwhile, the disproportionately high seroprevalence of CAEV in dwarf goats as reported in Switzerland indicates that these hobby breeds do not fall under official controls [ 16 ] and are going undetected; however, these hobby breeders are more likely to inadvertently escape some of the official controls. A widespread of CAEV infection in goat herds in southern Spain has been reported to be associated with factors such as herd size, existence of kidding area, absence of cleaning and disinfection programs, natural mating, and multiparity [ 5 ].…”

Vertical transmissibility of small ruminant lentivirus

“…In the present study, there was homology in the genetic sequences obtained between neonates and their mothers, and a strong relationship with the standard strain CAEV Co as well as with the Brazilian sequences BR CNPC (GenBank accession number EU300976, EU300977, EU300978, EU300979), thus proving that the isolated strains were from SRLV. This relationship is explained by the fact that the studied gene is one of the most conserved regions of the viral genome [7] and has traditionally been used in molecular analyzes [3,6,[8][9][10][11][12]. It should be…”

“…Structural (gag, pol and env) and accessories genes (vpr, rev and vif) make up the genome of SRLV [6]. Among these, the gag gene is one of the most conserved regions of the viral genome [7], and worldwide it is the target of molecular analysis [3,6,[8][9][10][11][12], allowing to properly characterize the circulating strains in the infected animal's organism due to its ideal minimum genetic variability, compared to other conserved regions of the genome [13,14].…”