Research
Determination of the full-genome sequence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) SAAS-FX17 and use as a reference to identify putative HEV genotype 4 virulence determinants
1 Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, 201106, China
2 Shanghai Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genetics and Breeding, Shanghai, 201106, China
3 Veterinary College, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210095, China
4 College of Animal Science and Technology, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330000, China
Virology Journal 2012, 9:264 doi:10.1186/1743-422X-9-264
Published: 8 November 2012Abstract
Background
Four major genotypes of hepatitis E virus (HEV), the causative agent of hepatitis E, have so far been recognized. While genotypes 3 and 4 are both zoonotic, the disease symptoms caused by the latter tend to be more severe. To examine if specific nucleotide/amino acid variations between genotypes 3 and 4 play a role in determining the severity of hepatitis E disease, the complete genome of one swine HEV genotype 4 isolate, SAAS-FX17, was determined and compared with other genotype 4 and genotype 3 genomes to identify putative HEV genotype 4 virulence determinants.
Results
A total of 42 conformable nt/aa variations between genotype 3 and 4 HEVs were detected, of which 19 were proposed to be potential disease severity determinants for genotype 4 strains.
Conclusions
One potential determinant was located in each of the 5'-UTR and 3'-UTR, 3 and 12 within ORF1 and ORF2 respectively, and 2 in the junction region.
