Kafkas Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Dergisi 2020 , Vol 26 , Issue 2
Detection and Molecular Characterization of BCoVs Circulating in Central China Based on the Full-length Spike Gene
Zhihai SHI1, Wenjia WANG2, Zhaoxue XU1, Mengmeng ZHAO4, Yali LAN1
1Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou, 450002, Henan, CHINA
2College of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Henan University of Animal Husbandry and Economy, Zhengzhou, 450046, Henan, CHINA
3Henan Key Laboratory of Farm Animal Breeding and Nutritional Regulation, Zhengzhou, 450002, Henan, CHINA
4Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Tulane University Medical School, 70112, New Orleans, USA
DOI : 10.9775/kvfd.2019.22678 Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) is prevalent throughout the world and is an important aetiological agent of diarrhoea in new-born calves. However, little is known about the genetic diversity and molecular epidemiology of BCoV in China. In this study, a total of 127 faecal samples from diarrhoeic dairy calves from nine cities in Henan Province, Central China, were collected between 2017 and 2018 and evaluated by RTPCR for the N gene. BCoV was detected in 15% (19/127) of calves. In addition, the full-length sequence of the S gene from 13 representative BCoV strains was obtained and analysed. Sequencing results for the full-length S gene showed 97.3-97.5% nucleotide (nt) identity and 96.3-96.8% amino acid (aa) identity with the classical Mebus strain. Phylogenetic analysis based on the full-length S gene showed that the BCoV strains in this study clustered with Vietnamese and Cuban BCoV strains on a large branch of the tree. These results enrich the molecular characterization of the Chinese BCoV strains and provide the first large-scale epidemiological examination of the prevalence of BCoV in diarrhoeic calves in Henan Province, Central China. Keywords : BCoV, Spike gene, Phylogenetic analysis, China