Identification of Novel Rosavirus Species That Infects Diverse Rodent Species and Causes Multisystemic Dissemination in Mouse Model

PLoS Pathogens

Brandon C. C. Chan¹  Kenneth S. M. Li¹  Hao-Ji Zhang²  Carol S. F. Lam²  Kwok-Hung Chan²  Zhi-Wei Chen²  Kwok-Yung Yuen²  Cyril C. Y. Yip²  Ming-Chi Yuen³  Anna J. X. Zhang⁴  Patrick C. Y. Woo⁴  Rachel Y. Y. Fan⁵  Susanna K. P. Lau⁵ 

[1] Carol Yu Centre for Infection, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China;Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China;Department of Veterinary Medicine, Foshan University, Foshan, China;Research Centre of Infection and Immunology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China;State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

关键词: Rodents;    Rats;    Picornaviruses;    Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction;    Sequence motif analysis;    NIH 3T3 cells;    Recombinant proteins;    Polymerase chain reaction;   

DOI  :  10.1371/journal.ppat.1005911

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Public Library of Science

【 摘 要 】

While novel picornaviruses are being discovered in rodents, their host range and pathogenicity are largely unknown. We identified two novel picornaviruses, rosavirus B from the street rat, Norway rat, and rosavirus C from five different wild rat species (chestnut spiny rat, greater bandicoot rat, Indochinese forest rat, roof rat and Coxing's white-bellied rat) in China. Analysis of 13 complete genome sequences showed that “Rosavirus B” and “Rosavirus C” represent two potentially novel picornavirus species infecting different rodents. Though being most closely related to rosavirus A, rosavirus B and C possessed distinct protease cleavage sites and variations in Yn-Xm-AUG sequence in 5’UTR and myristylation site in VP4. Anti-rosavirus B VP1 antibodies were detected in Norway rats, whereas anti-rosavirus C VP1 and neutralizing antibodies were detected in Indochinese forest rats and Coxing's white-bellied rats. While the highest prevalence was observed in Coxing's white-bellied rats by RT-PCR, the detection of rosavirus C from different rat species suggests potential interspecies transmission. Rosavirus C isolated from 3T3 cells causes multisystemic diseases in a mouse model, with high viral loads and positive viral antigen expression in organs of infected mice after oral or intracerebral inoculation. Histological examination revealed alveolar fluid exudation, interstitial infiltration, alveolar fluid exudate and wall thickening in lungs, and hepatocyte degeneration and lymphocytic/monocytic inflammatory infiltrates with giant cell formation in liver sections of sacrificed mice. Since rosavirus A2 has been detected in fecal samples of children, further studies should elucidate the pathogenicity and emergence potential of different rosaviruses.

【 授权许可】

CC BY