Full-length genomic analysis of korean porcine sapelovirus strains

Abstract

Porcine sapelovirus (PSV), a species of the genus Sapelovirus within the family Picornaviridae, is associated with diarrhea, pneumonia, severe neurological disorders, and reproductive failure in pigs. However, the structural features of the complete PSV genome remain largely unknown. To analyze the structural features of PSV genomes, the full-length nucleotide sequences of three Korean PSV strains were determined and analyzed using bioinformatic techniques in comparison with other known PSV strains. The Korean PSV genomes ranged from 7,542 to 7,566 nucleotides excluding the 39 poly(A) tail, and showed the typical picornavirus genome organization; 59untranslated region (UTR)-L-VP4-VP2-VP3-VP1-2A-2B-2C-3A-3B-3C-3D-39UTR. Three distinct cis-active RNA elements, the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) in the 59UTR, a cis-replication element (CRE) in the 2C coding region and 39UTR were identified and their structures were predicted. Interestingly, the structural features of the CRE and 39UTR were different between PSV strains. The availability of these first complete genome sequences for PSV strains will facilitate future investigations of the molecular pathogenesis and evolutionary characteristics of PSV.