Prokaryotic Expression and Bioinformatics Analysis of VP2 Gene of Infectious Bursal Disease Virus C4 Strain

This study was aimed to investigate the relationship between the virulence characteristics of infectious bursal disease virus(IBDV) C4 strain and its VP2 amino acid sequence. The RNA of IBDV C4 strain was extracted,and its VP2 gene was amplified by RT-PCR.VP2 nucleotide sequences and deduced amino acids of different virulent IBDV strains were compared. At the same time, prokaryotic expression vector pET-32a(+) was used to express the VP2 gene. The expression of recombinant VP2 protein was detected by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. The results showed that the VP2 gene of IBDV C4 strain belonged to the very virulent infectious bursal disease virus (vvIBDV) in evolutionary relationship, the VP2 nucleotides homology between IBDV C4 strain and other vvIBDV strains were 98.1% to 98.7%, and there were no mutations in S-W-S-A-S-G-S (326-332 amino acids) and 222(A), 256(I), 294(I) and 299(S). The VP2 amino acid sequence of IBDV C4 strain was consistent with the characteristics of other vvIBDV strains. However, there were three differences amino acids sites at 201(D/G), 281(G/R) and 313(V/A) between the amino acids of the C4 strain and the very virulent strain UK661. And the change of 281(R) was in the small hydrophilic region of 279 to 290, which was related to the antigenicity of the virus; The recombinant VP2 protein molecular weight expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 was about 67 ku. This study provided a basis for further research on antigenic changes resulting from amino acid variation of 201(G), 281 (R) and 313(A). These results indicated that the VP2 gene of the IBDV C4 strain was consistent with the major characteristics of the vvIBDV strain VP2 gene. The difference of three amino acid sites in the vvIBDV strain C4 might be related to the evolution of virulence of IBDV strain in China.     

传染性法氏囊病病毒C4毒株VP2基因的原核表达及生物信息学分析

试验旨在研究一株传染性法氏囊病病毒（IBDV）河南分离株的毒力特征及其与VP2氨基酸序列特征的关系。通过提取IBDV C4株RNA,利用RT-PCR扩增其VP2基因,与其他不同毒力IBDV毒株进行核苷酸及推导的氨基酸序列比对分析,同时使用pET-32a（+）原核表达载体表达VP2基因,用SDS-PAGE和Western blotting检测重组VP2蛋白的表达。结果显示,扩增的IBDV C4株的VP2基因序列在进化关系上属于超强毒力IBDV（vvIBDV）分类,与选取的vvIBDV毒株代表毒株核苷酸序列同源性在98.1%~98.7%之间,其七肽区为S-W-S-A-S-G-S（第326-332位氨基酸）符合超强毒株特征,且222（A）、256（I）、294（I）和299（S）位氨基酸与超强毒力毒株的4个特征性氨基酸一致;但IBDV C4毒株的VP2蛋白氨基酸序列与超强毒力毒株代表毒株UK661相比,201（D/G）、281（G/R）、313（V/A）位氨基酸不同,其中281位氨基酸的改变处于279-290的小亲水区内,与病毒抗原性有关;构建的pET-32a（+）-VP2原核表达载体在大肠杆菌BL21感受态细胞上表达出分子质量约67 ku的重组VP2蛋白,为进一步比较201（G）、281（R）、313（A）位氨基酸差异导致的抗原特性改变提供了研究基础。本试验结果表明,IBDV C4株VP2基因与vvIBDV毒株VP2基因的主要特性一致,但也有3处氨基酸与代表毒株UK661存在差异,这些改变可能与中国IBDV毒株毒力的进化有关。     

安徽地区IBDV超强毒株的分离鉴定和VP2基因序列分析

经鸡胚绒毛尿囊膜(CAM)接种、易感鸡接种试验、电镜观察,从安徽地区疑似病鸡的法氏囊组织分离到3株传染性法氏囊病毒。分离株人工感染4周龄鸡,致死率分别为92%、83%、67%。接种9～10SPF鸡胚测得的鸡胚半数致死量(ELD50)分别为10-6.8/0.2mL、10-5.4/0.2mL、10-4.6/0.2mL。应用Nested-PCR分别对3株分离株VP2基因高变区进行克隆测序和序列分析,结果表明:3个分离株与国内外参考超强毒株的核苷酸同源性为97.2%～99.5%,氨基酸同源性为99.3%～100%,VP2高变区核苷酸和推导的氨基酸符合传染性法氏囊病病毒超强毒株特征。     

Pathogenicity and molecular analysis of an infectious bursal disease virus isolated from Malaysian village chickens

The characteristics of the pathogenic infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) that infected avian species other than commercial chickens were largely unknown. In this study, by using in vivo and molecular methods, we had characterized an IBDV isolate (named 94268) isolated from an infectious bursal disease (IBD) outbreak in Malaysian village chickens--the adulterated descendant of the Southeast Asian jungle fowl (Gallus bankiva) that were commonly reared in the backyard. The 94268 isolate was grouped as the very virulent IBDV (vvIBDV) strain because it caused severe lesions and a high mortality rate in village chickens (>88%) and experimentally infected specific-pathogen-free chickens (>66%). In addition, it possessed all of the vvIBDV molecular markers in its VP2 gene. Phylogenetic analysis using distance, maximum parsimony, and maximum likelihood methods revealed that 94268 was monophyletic with other vvIBDV isolates and closely related to the Malaysian vvIBDV isolates. Given that the VP2 gene of 94268 isolate was almost identical and evolutionarily closely related to other field IBDV isolates that affected the commercial chickens, we therefore concluded that IBD infections had spread across the farm boundary. IBD infection in the village chicken may represent an important part of the IBD epidemiology because these birds could harbor the vvIBDV strain and should not be overlooked in the control and prevention of the disease.     

Differentiation of infectious bursal disease viruses isolated in Croatia

Infectious bursal disease viruses (IBDVs) in 26 IBDV-positive bursa samples collected in Croatia during the period 1996-2000 and in two commercially available vaccines were differentiated by the presence or absence of the CfoI, SacI, SspI, StuI, and TaqI restriction sites in the 422-bp fragment of segment A of the VP2 gene (nt 732-1153). The fragments from 14 (54%) field isolates were TaqI+ StuI+ SspI+ and SacI- CfoI-, indicating their very virulent (vv) character. The presence of CfoI restriction site in 10 (38%) field isolates is uncommon for vvIBDV strains. It was detected in only the 88180 vvIBDV strain. Nevertheless, these isolates can be classified as vv strains according to TaqI+ StuI+ SspI+ SacI- restrictions. Two SacI+ StuI+ CfoI+ TaqI- SspI- field isolates (8%) could be classified as non-vvIBDVs. The StuI+ restriction is common to vvIBDV strains. However, the StuI recognition sequence is present in the F52/70 classic European and 002-73 attenuated strains as well. The SacI+ CfoI+ StuI- SspI- restrictions and the lack of the TaqI restriction at nt position 832 show that the IBDV in GUMBOKAL IM-SPF vaccine corresponds to the attenuated and/or vaccine strains. The TaqI restriction at nt position 875 suggests that the IBDV in GUMBOKAL SPF vaccine could belong to the mild strains.     

Differentiation of infectious bursal disease viruses by restriction enzyme analysis of RT-PCR amplified VP1 gene sequence

In order to differentiate infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) isolates/strains, a quick method of RT-PCR followed by restriction enzyme analysis of VP1 gene sequence is being reported for the first time. A 480 bp fragment, comprising one of the RNA dependent RNA polymerase motifs of VP1 gene sequence of an Indian classical virus, an attenuated vaccine strain, Georgia and two Indian field isolates, genetically similar to reported very virulent strains of IBDV, was amplified by RT-PCR. Restriction enzyme digestion of PCR products with Taq1 enzyme generated distinct profile for field isolates, different from the classical and attenuated viruses, whereas restriction profile with BstNI restriction enzyme was similar in all the viruses, irrespective of the pathotype. Therefore, the present results suggest that Taq1 digestion can be taken up for the differentiation of field isolates from the classical and vaccine strains. The sequence analysis of VPI gene of reported very virulent IBD viruses from Europe and Japan, using 'MapDraw' programme of Lasergene software, revealed similar restriction enzyme profile as in Indian field isolates.     

Heteroduplex mobility assay for genotyping infectious bursal disease virus

A heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA) was developed to genotype infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). This method analyzed 390-base pair (bp) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products, encompassing the hypervariable region of the VP2 gene. IBDV strains from the United States and other countries were analyzed. The HMA was able to differentiate standard, antigenic variants and very virulent strains of IBDV. Minor differences between different strains from the same subtype were also detected. Close relationships between field IBDV with vaccines prepared with Delaware E strain were determined by HMA. The results obtained by HMA were confirmed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences. The HMA proved to be a useful technique to rapidly genotype different field strains of IBDV and should prove to be a useful tool in epidemiologic studies.