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Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of small ruminant lentiviruses isolated from Canadian sheep and goats.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Small Ruminant Lentiviruses (SRLV) are widespread in Canadian sheep and goats and represent an important health issue in these animals. There is however no data about the genetic diversity of Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus (CAEV) or Maedi Visna Virus (MVV) in this country. FINDINGS: We performed a molecular and phylogenetic analysis of sheep and goat lentiviruses from a small geographic area in Canada using long sequences from the gag region of 30 infected sheep and 36 infected goats originating from 14 different flocks. Pairwise DNA distance and phylogenetic analyses revealed that all SRLV sequences obtained from sheep clustered tightly with prototypical Maedi visna sequences from America. Similarly, all SRLV strains obtained from goats clustered tightly with prototypical US CAEV-Cork strain. CONCLUSIONS: The data reported in this study suggests that Canadian and US SRLV strains share common origins. In addition, the molecular data failed to bring to light any evidence of past cross species transmission between sheep and goats, which is consistent with the type of farming practiced in this part of the country where single species flocks predominate and where opportunities of cross species transmissions are proportionately low.

SUBMITTER: L'Homme Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3123287 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of small ruminant lentiviruses isolated from Canadian sheep and goats.

L'Homme Yvan Y Ouardani Mourad M Lévesque Valérie V Bertoni Giuseppe G Simard Carole C Pisoni Giuliano G

Virology journal 20110603

<h4>Background</h4>Small Ruminant Lentiviruses (SRLV) are widespread in Canadian sheep and goats and represent an important health issue in these animals. There is however no data about the genetic diversity of Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus (CAEV) or Maedi Visna Virus (MVV) in this country.<h4>Findings</h4>We performed a molecular and phylogenetic analysis of sheep and goat lentiviruses from a small geographic area in Canada using long sequences from the gag region of 30 infected sheep an ...[more]

PMID: 21639904

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Project description:Previous studies revealed that the small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV) population in Poland is highly heterogeneous. All SRLVs detected from Polish sheep and goats so far have belonged to subtypes B1, B2, A1, A5, A12, A13, A16, A17, A18, A23 and A24. However, all characterized strains originated from asymptomatic animals. This is the first study that characterizes the molecular properties of SRLVs isolated from different organs of six arthritic goats. Segments from three genomic regions (gag, LTR and env) were analyzed. In addition, we quantified the SRLV proviral load in the blood and different organs and examined its association with different degrees of histopathological lesions. All sequences obtained from the goats involved in this study were homogeneous, showing an average degree of variability of 4.8%, 3.7% and 8.8% for gag, LTR and env, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the sequences from the analyzed goats were clustered within SRLVs group A and formed a new subtype within this group, tentatively named A27. The histopathological examination of the lung, mammary gland, synovial membranes of joints and brain of the analyzed goats revealed evidence of inflammatory processes associated with SRLV infection, which was confirmed by positive immunohistochemistry assays. No significant correlation was observed between histological features and alterations in the sequences from different tissues. No tissue-specific signature pattern was identified. It was shown that animals with a higher proviral load showed more lesion severity in various SRLV-affected tissues, indicating a positive association between these two parameters. Our results also revealed differences in the SRLV load between animals even though the sequences derived from all of the goats were closely related, suggesting that host factors may restrict and control viral replication. This study provides new information about SRLV variants isolated from arthritic goats; however, more studies, including the isolation and characterization of biological properties of these viruses, should be performed to evaluate their pathogenic potential.

Project description:Small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs) are widespread in sheep and goats in Poland, and several subtypes were identified and molecularly characterized up to date. This is the first study that characterizes the molecular properties of A5 strains of SRLV detected in naturally infected, but clinically healthy, Carpathian goats. Segments from three genomic regions (gag, env, and LTR) were analyzed. Genetic distance, pairwise comparison, and phylogenetic analysis revealed that Polish SRLV A5 sequences are closely related to the Swiss and German A5 sequences suggesting a common origin. The epidemiological linkage was identified particularly between the small ruminants of Germany and Poland. Amino acid sequences of immunodominant regions in CA protein were well-conserved within analyzed strains; however, they showed some remarkable changes like substitution (D) to (E), at position 90 in Major Homology Region (MHR) and (T) to (S), at position 141 in epitope 3. In contrast, aa sequences of surface glycoprotein exhibited the highest variability confirming type-specific variation in SU5 epitope. Two deletions in the U3 region of A5 strains were noted: One (8 nt) located near the 5' end of the U3 region and the other (29 nt) located in the central region of U3. Additionally, all A5 strains had specific deletion (10 nt) in the R region. Furthermore, we did not find a correlation between copies of the CAAAT motif and clinical manifestation in infected animals. These data showed some remarkable features in the viral genome of A5 strains, which may be related to the attenuated phenotype in vivo, characterized by the lack of any clinical signs in infected goats. Certainly, more studies are required to support the hypothesis that these A5 viruses are of low pathogenicity for goats. We want to focus our future studies on the analysis of the whole genomes of these isolates and their biological properties, as well as on clinicopathological studies of goats infected by A5 SRLV, aiming to clarify the pathogenic potential of these viruses.

Dataset Information

Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of small ruminant lentiviruses isolated from Canadian sheep and goats.

Publications

Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of small ruminant lentiviruses isolated from Canadian sheep and goats.

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