| Abstract: | To investigate genetic variation of Marek's disease virus(MDV) in Guangxi province, three isolates of MDV were isolated from infected chicken.One pair of primers for amplifying Meq gene of MDV was designed according to nucleotide sequence in GenBank, Meq gene of the isolates were amplified by PCR, and then cloned, sequenced and compared with reference MDV strains published in GenBank.The results showed that Meq gene from all of the MDV isolates consisted of 1020 bp, coding for 339 amino acids.Compared with reference strains published in GenBank, the sequences of Meq gene in different isolates were relatively conserved and the homologies of nucleotide and amino acid sequence of the isolates were 83.8% to 99.9% and 88.4% to 99.6%, respectively.The proline-rich repeats of Meq gene of the MDV isolates had site mutations, and it was related to MDV's virulence.The isolate were nearly related to YL and GXY2, and far away from RB1B, GA, Md5, 648A and the immune strain phylogenetically.The study would provide research materials for the prevalence, genetic variation, protection and control of MDV in China. |
