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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Endemic Poultry Viral Diseases Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #409280
Research Project: Systems Biology Approaches to Develop Medical Countermeasures to Detect, Prevent, and Control Poultry Production Viral Diseases

Location: Endemic Poultry Viral Diseases Research

Title: Whole genomic constellation of avian reovirus strains isolated from broilers with arthritis in North Carolina, USA

Author
item NOUR, ISLAM - Orise Fellow
item Alvarez-Narvaez, Sonsiray
item HARRELL, TELVIN - Orise Fellow
item Conrad, Steven
item Mohanty, Sujit

Submitted to: Viruses
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/28/2023
Publication Date: 10/31/2023
Citation: Nour, I., Alvarez Narvaez, S., Harrell, T.L., Conrad, S.J., Mohanty, S.K. 2023. Whole genomic constellation of avian reovirus strains isolated from broilers with arthritis in North Carolina, USA. Viruses. 15:2191. https://doi.org/10.3390/v15112191.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/v15112191

Interpretive Summary: Avian Reovirus (ARV) infection is a challenge to the chicken and turkey industry across the globe causing huge economic loss. ARV causes liver disease and arthritis in young chickens and turkeys, but the cause of the disease is still unclear. In this study we conducted whole genome sequencing analysis of two viruses and showed significant changes in the genes compared to other viruses. This analysis will provide insights into ARVs circulating in a region thereby guiding the poultry farmers to take necessary control measures and provide consumers a economical poultry product.

Technical Abstract: Avian reovirus (ARV) is an emerging pathogen which causes significant economic challenges to the chicken and turkey industry in the USA and globally, yet the molecular characterization of most ARV strains is restricted to a single particular gene, the sigma C gene. The genome of arthrogenic reovirus field isolates (R18-37308 and R18-38167), isolated from broiler chickens in North Carolina (NC), USA in 2018, was sequenced using long-read next-generation sequencing (NGS). The isolates were genotyped based on the amino acid sequence of sigma C (_C) followed by phylogenetic and amino acid analyses of the other 11 genomically encoded proteins for whole genomic constellation and genetic variation detection. The genomic length of the NC field strains was 23,494 bp, with 10 dsRNA segments ranging from 3959 bp (L1) to 1192 bp (S4), and the 50 and 30 untranslated regions (UTRs) of all the segments were found to be conserved. R18-37308 and R18-38167 were found to belong to genotype (G) VI based on the _C analysis and showed nucleotide and amino acid sequence identity ranging from 84.91–98.47% and 83.43–98.46%, respectively, with G VI strains. Phylogenetic analyses of individual genes of the NC strains did not define a single common ancestor among the available completely sequenced ARV strains. Nevertheless, most sequences supported the Chinese strain LY383 as a probable ancestor of these isolates. Moreover, amino acid analysis revealed multiple amino acid substitution events along the entirety of the genes, some of which were unique to each strain, which suggests significant divergence owing to the accumulation of point mutations. All genes from R18-37308 and R18-38167 were found to be clustered within genotypic clusters that included only ARVs of chicken origin, which negates the possibility of genetic pooling or host variation. Collectively, this study revealed sequence divergence between the NC field strains and reference ARV strains, including the currently used vaccine strains could help updating the vaccination regime through the inclusion of these highly divergent circulating indigenous field isolates.