RT-PCR and sequence analysis of the full-length fusion protein of Canine Distemper Virus from domestic dogs

CARINA ROMANUTTI; GALLO CALDERON, MARINA; KELLER, LETICIA; MATTION, NORA; J. LA TORRE

JOURNAL OF VIROLOGICAL METHODS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2016

0166-0934

During 2007?2014, 84 out of 236 (35.6%) samples from domestic dogs submitted to our laboratory fordiagnostic purposes were positive for Canine Distemper Virus (CDV), as analyzed by RT-PCR amplificationof a fragment of the nucleoprotein gene. Fifty-nine of them (70.2%) were from dogs that had been vaccinatedagainst CDV. The full-length gene encoding the Fusion (F) protein of fifteen isolates was sequencedand compared with that of those of other CDVs, including wild-type and vaccine strains. Phylogeneticanalysis using the F gene full-length sequences grouped all the Argentinean CDV strains in the SA2 clade.Sequence identity with the Onderstepoort vaccine strain was 89.0?90.6%, and the highest divergence wasfound in the 135 amino acids corresponding to the F protein signal-peptide, Fsp (64.4?66.7% identity).In contrast, this region was highly conserved among the local strains (94.1?100% identity). One extraputative N-glycosylation site was identified in the F gene of CDV Argentinean strains with respect to thevaccine strain. The present report is the first to analyze full-length F protein sequences of CDV strainscirculating in Argentina, and contributes to the knowledge of molecular epidemiology of CDV, which mayhelp in understanding future disease outbreaks.