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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Virus and Prion Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #279790
Title: Genomic sequence and virulence comparison of four type 2 porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus strains

Author
item Brockmeier, Susan
item Loving, Crystal
item Vorwald, Ann
item Kehrli Jr, Marcus
item BAKER, RODNEY - Iowa State University
item Nicholson, Tracy
item Lager, Kelly
item Miller, Laura
item Faaberg, Kay

Submitted to: Virus Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/30/2012
Publication Date: 10/1/2012
Citation: Brockmeier, S.L., Loving, C.L., Vorwald, A.C., Kehrli, Jr., M.E., Baker, R.B., Nicholson, T.L., Lager, K.M., Miller, L.C., Faaberg, K.S. 2012. Genomic sequence and virulence comparison of four Type 2 porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus strains. Virus Research. 169(1):212-221.

Interpretive Summary: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome is one of the most devastating and costly diseases to the swine industry world-wide. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a ubiquitous and mutates rapidly making it difficult to develop vaccines that protect pigs from disease. In this study, we determined the whole genomic sequence of four PRRSV isolates and compared their ability to cause disease to determine whether there are specific genomic regions of the virus responsible for the severity of disease that is seen among different isolates. The four isolates varied considerably in their genomic sequence as well as their capacity to replicate in pigs and cause pneumonia. Unfortunately, no specific mutations correlated with disease, indicating specific genomic determinants of disease are elusive and almost certainly complex.

Technical Abstract: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a ubiquitous and costly virus that exhibits substantial sequence and virulence disparity among diverse isolates. In this study, we compared the whole genomic sequence and virulence of 4 North American Type 2 PRRSV isolates. Among the 4 isolates, SDSU73, MN184, and NADC30 were all clearly more virulent than NADC31, and among the 3 more virulent isolates, there were subtle differences based on viral replication, lung lesions, lymphadenopathy, febrile response, decreased weight gains, and cytokine responses in the lung. Lesions consistent with bacterial bronchopneumonia were present to varying degrees in pigs infected with PRRSV, and bacteria typically associated with the porcine respiratory disease complex were isolated from the lung of these pigs. Genomic sequence evaluation indicates that SDSU73 is most similar to the nucleotide sequence of JA142, the parental strain of Ingelvac PRRS ATP, while the nucleotide sequences of NADC30 and NADC31 are more similar to strain MN184. Both the NADC30 and NADC31 isolates of PRRSV maintain the nonstructural protein 2 deletion seen in MN184, but NADC31 has two additional 15 and 36 nucleotide deletions, and these strains are 8-14% different on a nucleotide basis from the MN184 strain. Combined with the differing levels of attenuation, these results indicate specific genomic determinants of virulence are elusive and almost certainly complex.