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First Molecular Characterization of Bovine Leukemia Virus Infections in the Caribbean.

ABSTRACT: Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is a retrovirus that causes enzootic bovine leucosis. To investigate the presence and genetic variability of BLV in the Caribbean for the first time, we preformed fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-PCR for the pol of BLV on DNA from whole blood of cattle from Dominica, Montserrat, Nevis and St. Kitts. Standard PCRs with primers for the env were used for phylogenetic analysis of BLV in positive animals. We found FRET-PCR positive cattle (12.6%, 41/325) on Dominica (5.2%; 4/77) and St. Kitts (19.2%; 37/193) but not on Montserrat (0%, 0/12) or Nevis (0%, 0/43). Positive animals were cows on farms where animals were raised intensively. Phylogenetic analysis using the neighbor-joining (NJ) method on partial and full-length env sequences obtained for strains from Dominica (n = 2) and St. Kitts (n = 5) and those available in GenBank (n = 90) (genotypes 1-10) revealed the Caribbean strains belonged to genotype 1 (98-100% sequence homology). Ours is the first molecular characterization of BLV infections in the Caribbean and the first description of genotype 1 in the region.

SUBMITTER: Yang Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5158060 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is the causative agent of enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL), a disease that has worldwide distribution. Whilst it has been eradicated in most of Western Europe and Scandinavia, it remains a problem in other regions, particularly Eastern Europe and South America. For this study, in 2013, 24 cattle from three farms in three regions of Moldova were screened by ELISA and nested PCR. Of these cattle, 14 which were PCR positive, and these were molecularly characterized based on the nucleotide sequence of the env gene and the deduced amino acid sequence of the encoded gp51 protein. Our results demonstrated a low level of genetic variability (0-2.9%) among BLV field strains from Moldova, in contrast to that observed for other retroviruses, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (20-38%) Mason IL (Trudy vologod moloch Inst 146-164, 1970) and equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) (~40%) Willems L et al (AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 16(16):1787-1795, 2000), where the envelope gene exhibits high levels of variation Polat M et al (Retrovirology 13(1):4, 2016). Sequence comparisons and phylogenetic analysis revealed that BLV genotype 7 (G7) is predominant in Moldova and that the BLV population in Moldovan cattle is a mixture of at least three new sub-genotypes: G7D, G7E and G4C. Neutrality tests revealed that negative selection was the major force operating upon the 51-kDa BLV envelope surface glycoprotein subunit gp51, although one positively selected site within conformational epitope G was detected in the N-terminal part of gp51. Furthermore, two functional domains, linear epitope B and the zinc-binding domain, were found to have an elevated ratio of nonsynonymous to synonymous codon differences. Together, these data suggest that the evolutionary constraints on epitopes G and B and the zinc-binding domains of gp51 differ from those on the other domains, with a tendency towards formation of homogenous genetic groups, which is a common concept of global BLV diversification during virus transmission that may be associated with genetic drift.

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First Molecular Characterization of Bovine Leukemia Virus Infections in the Caribbean.

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