Full genome analysis of bovine astrovirus from fecal samples of cattle in Japan: identification of possible interspecies transmission of bovine astrovirus

Makoto Nagai, Tsutomu Omatsu, Hiroshi Aoki, Konosuke Otomaru, Takehiko Uto, Motoya Koizumi, Fujiko Minami-Fukuda, Hikaru Takai, Toshiaki Murakami, Tsuneyuki Masuda, Hiroshi Yamasato, Mai Shiokawa, Shinobu Tsuchiaka, Yuki Naoi, Kaori Sano, Sachiko Okazaki, Yukie Katayama, Mami Oba, Tetsuya Furuya, Junsuke Shirai, Tetsuya Mizutani

A viral metagenomics approach was used to investigate fecal samples of Japanese calves with and without diarrhea. Of the different viral pathogens detected, read counts gave nearly complete astrovirus-related RNA sequences in 15 of the 146 fecal samples collected in three distinct areas (Hokkaido, Ishikawa, and Kagoshima Prefectures) between 2009 and 2015. Due to the lack of genetic information about bovine astroviruses (BoAstVs) in Japan, these sequences were analyzed in this study. Nine of the 15 Japanese BoAstVs were closely related to Chinese BoAstVs and clustered into a lineage (tentatively named lineage 1) in all phylogenetic trees. Three of 15 strains were phylogenetically separate from lineage 1, showing low sequence identities, and clustered instead with an American strain isolated from cattle with respiratory disease (tentatively named lineage 2). Interestingly, two of 15 strains clustered with lineage 1 in the open reading frame (ORF)1a and ORF1b regions, while they clustered with lineage 2 in the ORF2 region. Remarkably, one of 15 strains exhibited low amino acid sequence similarity to other BoAstVs and was clustered separately with porcine astrovirus type 5 in all trees, and ovine astrovirus in the ORF2 region, suggesting past interspecies transmission.

Archives of Virology

Springer Nature

160

10

2491

2501