Yinglin Qi,Fang Wang,JiTao Chang,Zhigang Jiang,Chao Sun,Jun Lin,Jianmin Wu,Li Yu

Transbound Emerg Dis.2022 Apr 11.doi: 10.1111/tbed.14555. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Bluetongue virus (BTV), a member of the genus Orbivirus in the family Reoviridae, is transmitted by biting midges and causes severe disease in domestic and wild ruminants. In the present study, a BTV strain, BTV-20/GX015/China/2013 (GX015), was isolated from sentinel cattle in Guangxi, China. Virus neutralization tests and phylogenetic analyses based on genomic segments 2 (S2) and 6 (S6) indicated that GX015 belongs to BTV serotype 20 (BTV-20) and represents a new topotype within BTV-20 strains, which makes GX015 the first BTV-20 strain isolated in China. Genomic analyses suggested that the ten genomic segments of GX015 originated from a reassortment event, in which S2 and S6 are derived from exotic BTV-20 strains (South Africa or Australia), while the remaining eight genomic segments are apparently of Chinese origin and most likely share the same ancestor with a Taiwanese BTV-12 strain. Importantly, we evaluated the infectivity and pathogenicity of the BTV-20 strain in mice lacking the interferon receptor (IFNAR-/- mice, a good animal model for studying the pathogenesis, virulence and transmission of BTVs) and sheep for the first time, and found that GX015 causes severe disease and death in IFNAR-/- mice and clinical signs and viraemia in the natural host sheep. These results improve our understanding of the genetic characteristics, diversity and pathogenicity of BTVs, which is important for developing diagnostic methods and vaccines for the surveillance and prevention of bluetongue disease. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Keywords: BTV-20; bluetongue virus (BTV); phylogeny; virulence; whole genome sequencing.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.