Identification of novel bovine group A rotavirus G15P[14] strain from epizootic diarrhea of adult cows by de novo sequencing using a next-generation sequencer.

Tsuneyuki Masuda, Makoto Nagai, Hiroshi Yamasato, Shinobu Tsuchiaka, Sachiko Okazaki, Yukie Katayama, Mami Oba, Naomi Nishiura, Yukiko Sassa, Tsutomu Omatsu, Tetsuya Furuya, Satoshi Koyama, Junsuke Shirai, Hiroshi Tsunemitsu, Koki Taniguchi, Yoshiki Fujii,  Reiko Todaka, Kazuhiko Katayama, Tetsuya Mizutani

There are few reports describing diarrhea of adult cattle caused by group A rotaviruses. Here, we report the identification of a novel bovine group A rotavirus from diarrhea of adult cows. A group A rotavirus was detected from an epizootic outbreak of diarrhea in adult cows with a decrease in milk production in Japan in 2013. The comprehensive genomic analyses from fecal samples by viral metagenomics using a next-generation sequencer revealed that it had an unreported genotype combination G15P[14]. The genome constellation of this strain, namely, RVA/Cow-wt/JPN/Tottori-SG/2013/G15P[14] was G15-P[14]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A3-N2-T6-E2-H3 representing VP7-VP4-VP6-VP1-VP2-VP3-NSP1-NSP2-NSP3-NSP4-NSP5, respectively. Each gene segment of Tottori-SG was most closely related to Japanese bovine group A rotaviruses suggesting that Tottori-SG might have derived from multiple reassortment events from group A rotavirus strains circulating among Japanese cattle. No other diarrhea pathogen of adult cattle was detected by routine diagnosis and metagenomics. Viral metagenomics, using a next-generation sequencer, is useful to characterize group A rotaviruses from fecal samples and offers unbiased comprehensive investigations of pathogen.

Vet Microbiol.