The high conserved cellular receptors of avian leukosis virus subgroup J in Chinese local chickens contributes to its wide host range

Abstract

Avian leukosis virus (ALV) is a tumor-inducing virus that spreads among most chicken species, causing serious financial losses for the poultry industry. Subgroup J avian leukosis virus (ALV-J) is a recombinant exogenous ALV, which shows more extensive host range in comparison with other subgroups, especially in Chinese local chickens. To identify the relationship between ALV-J host range and the polymorphism of its cellular receptors, we performed a wide range epidemiological investigation of current ALV-J infection in Chinese local chickens, and discovered that all the 18 local chicken breeds being investigated from main local chicken breeding provinces were ALV-J positive. Furthermore, we cloned ALV-J cellular receptor genes of chNHE1 and chANXA2 of these 18 chicken breeds. Sequence alignment demonstrated that despite several regular mutations at the nucleotide level, there were no corresponding amino acid mutations for either chNHE1 gene or chANXA2 gene. Additionally, virus entry assay indicated that the level of viral enter into cells is stable among different chicken breeds. Results of this study indicated that the wide host range of ALV-J in Chinese local chickens was partially due to the high conservatism of its cellular receptors, and also provide target sites for drug design of resistance to ALV-J infection.

A novel recombinant avian leukosis virus isolated from gamecocks induced pathogenicity in Three-Yellow chickens: a potential infection source of avian leukosis virus to the commercial chickens

“…Subgroups A, B, C, D, J, and K are exogenous ALVs while subgroup E is endogenous (Su et al, 2018). Among these subgroups, subgroup J (ALV-J) is the most prevalent in chickens (Lin et al, 2017) and causes multiple malignant tumors, such as myelocytoma and hemangioma (Zhang et al, 2018). Subgroups A, B, and K are recognized as common pathogenic viruses that induce lymphoid leukosis and sarcoma (Wang et al, 2017).…”

Full-length cDNA sequence analysis of 85 avian leukosis virus subgroup J strains isolated from chickens in China during the years 1988–2018: coexistence of 2 extremely different clusters that are highly dependent upon either the host genetic background or the geographic location

“…In 1999, ALV-J was first isolated in China from White-feather boilers ( Yang et al., 2003 ), and since then, the host range of ALV-J has gradually expanded to layer flocks, Yellow-chickens, indigenous chicken breeds, and wild birds ( Li et al, 2019b ). This may be because of the instability and diversity of the Retroviridae ( Garcia-Montojo et al., 2018 ) and the rapid evolution of the virus to help it escape the immune protection mechanisms of the host by the gene mutations and reorganization of the genome ( Zhang et al., 2018 ). During the process of ALV-J transmission and spread all over the world, the ALV-J genome is constantly changing ( Ji et al., 2012 , Li et al., 2016 ).…”

gga‑microRNA‑375 negatively regulates the cell cycle and proliferation by targeting Yes‑associated protein 1 in DF‑1 cells

“…ALV-J is a retrovirus that commonly causes natural infection in chickens, and possibly neoplastic disease and other production problems (40). The cell cycle is regulated by a large number of transcription factors and signaling molecules, and affects cell proliferation (41); endless proliferation of cells is a hallmark of cancer (42).…”