Comparative study on the in vitro replication and genomic variability of Argentinean field isolates of bovine herpesvirus type 4 (BoHV-4)

VERNA, A; LEUNDA, M; MANRIQUE, J; JONES, L; PEREZ, S. E; ODEÓN, A

VIRUS GENES

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2016 vol. 52 p. 372 - 378

0920-8569

Bovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) is a gammaherpesvirus,belonging to the Rhadinovirus genus, with no clear association with disease.Genomic analysis of cervico-vaginal mucus from aborted cows demonstrated thatBoHV-4 strains isolated in Argentina are highly divergent and can be classifiedin three different groups. Genotype 1 comprises Movar-like strains (European prototype), Genotype 2 includes DN599-like strains (American prototype) andGenotype 3 corresponds to a novel genotype group. Understanding the replicationbehaviour in cell cultures and the molecular characteristics of this importantpathogen of cattle is critical for the rational design of in vitro experiments.The aim of this work was to quantitatively evaluate the replication propertiesof different Argentinean BoHV-4 strains and to characterize their phylogeneticrelationship.  Significant differenceswere evident among the virus titers of the different BoHV-4 isolates in vitro. The most conserved gene wasORF25. The gB, gH and TK genes displayed both synonymous and non-synonymoussubstitutions, with the highest diversity observed for gB, which displayedamino acid substitutions in 24 out of the 178 positions determined. Strains09/759, 12/512 and 07/568 presented this amino acid stretch completely deleted,whereas strains 07/435 and 09/227 had a deletion from position 28 to 35. Thesetwo strains (07/435 and 09/227) also displayed the highest divergence comparedto the other strains analyzed. This study provides significant informationabout the in vitro replication and behaviour of nine field isolates of BoHV-4.These findings are relevant since available information on the in vitro growthcharacteristics of BoHV-4 strains is scarce. The results from this study mayalso be useful for establishing comparisons with other related viruses.