Molecular and Antigenic Analyses of Serotypes 8 and 10 of Bovine Rotaviruses in Thailand

Abstract

Antigenic and genomic properties of non-serotype 6 bovine rotaviruses isolated in Thailand and Japan were studied by cross-neutralization tests, nucleotide sequence determination of the VP7 gene, and RNA-RNA hybridization. Two Thai strains (61A and A44) were serologically related to a Japanese isolate KK3 which has been assigned to serotype 10. In contrast, strain A5 was found to be antigenically similar to human strain 69M with serotype 8 specificity, although strain A5 showed a one-way cross-reaction with serotype 6 strain NCDV. VP7 sequence analysis confirmed these results. High degrees of similarity in nucleotide and amino acid sequences (92.5 to 98.2% and 96.3 to 97.9%, respectively) were found among the VP7 genes of the four serotype 10 bovine strains (61A, A44, KK3 and B223). The VP7 amino acid sequence of strain A5 was similar to those of serotype 8 human strains (91.7% and 94.8% for strains B37 and 69M, respectively). In RNA-RNA hybridization experiments, a high level of overall relatedness was found among the three serotype 10 bovine strains (61A, A44 and KK3), and strains A5 and NCDV were also moderately related to the three serotype 10 viruses. All the bovine rotaviruses tested in this study, regardless of their serotype specificity, exhibited a moderate genetic-relatedness to strain 69M of serotype 8, and, to a lesser extent, to serotype 2 human rotavirus strains.