Sequence analysis of selected nucleotide sequences of abortogenic isolate of equine herpesvirus 1 and changes caused by serial passage in vitro

Abstract

The aim of this work was to isolate the abortogenic virus strain of Equine Herpesvirus 1 representing the current infection situation in the Czech Republic, describe it at the molecular level with accent on genes coding viral glycoproteins and observe the changes caused by the passaging of the virus on a cell culture. In 2009, an isolate of equine herpesvirus 1 was obtained from an abortion case in a mare from a herd affected by abortion storm. The virus identification was performed using the PCR method. The virus was isolated on the RK 13 cell line and after 6 passages in vitro the stability of sequences of selected sections of the virus genome was assessed and compared with the original field isolate. The virus sequences were also compared with known sequences of the abortogenic reference virus strain (V592) and with other known viral strains. One point mutation in a nucleotide sequence coding glycoprotein G was found, distinguishing the field isolate from V592. One point mutation in the gene for glycoprotein C was passage-induced. It was noted that the virus during the passage on RK13 cell line in the monitored sections was stable and is a suitable starting material for next experiments.