Molecular characterization of avian polyomavirus isolated from psittacine birds based on the whole genome sequence analysis

Seven avian polyomaviruses (APVs) were isolated from seven psittacine birds of four species. Their whole genome sequences were genetically analyzed. Comparing with the sequence of BFDV1 strain, nucleotide substitutions in the sequences of seven APV isolates were found at 63 loci and a high level of conservation of amino acid sequence in each viral protein (VP1, VP2, VP3, VP4, and t/T antigen) was predicted. An A-to-T nucleotide substitution was observed in non-control region of all seven APV sequences in comparison with BFDV1 strain. Two C-to-T nucleotide substitutions were also detected in non-coding regions of one isolate. A phylogenetic analysis of the whole genome sequences indicated that the sequences from the same species of bird were closely related. APV has been reported to have distinct tropism for cell cultures of various avian species. The present study indicated that a single amino acid substitution at position 221 in VP2 was essential for propagating in chicken embryonic fibroblast culture and this substitution was promoted by propagation on budgerigar embryonic fibroblast culture. For two isolates, three serial amino acids appeared to be deleted in VP4. However, this deletion had little effect on virus propagation.