Molecular characterization of a genetically diverse bubaline picobirnavirus strain, India

Abstract

Picobirnavirus (PBV) associated gastrointestinal infections have been noticed in humans as well as in a number of animal species, however, to the best of our information, report about the detection and characterisation of PBV in buffaloes is not presented. In this study, RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene targeted RT-PCR assay was used to recognize PBVs and additionally the isolate was analysed for evolutionary and sequence homology. The buffalo PBV isolate was of genogroup I (GG I) nature and a comparative sequence analysis revealed homology of 44.5% and 45.1% at nucleotide and amino acid levels, respectively, with the prototype human PBV strain of GG I (Hu-1-CHN-97/GG-I/2000/AF246939) from China and also with previously reported bovine PBV strain from India (RUBV-P/GG-I/2005/GQ221268). This unique bubaline PBV isolate comprised a separate lineage away from previously reported GG I and GG II PBV sequences. The results provide evidence that this PBV isolate may represent an emerging heterogeneous group of virus with a new lineage.