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Characterization of low-pathogenic H6N6 avian influenza viruses in central China

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Abstract

Three strains of H6N6 subtype avian influenza virus (AIV) were isolated from live-poultry markets of central China during 2009-2010. A phylogenetic analysis showed that these isolates originated from gene reassortment among different virus lineages of the H6 subtype. In an experimental infection of animals, the selected isolate was non-pathogenic for chickens and low-pathogenic for mice. The wild-type isolate was capable of replication in mouse lung without prior adaptation, and the virulence to mice increased rapidly during adaption in mouse lung. The genomes of viruses of passage 0 (P0), P4, and P8 were sequenced and compared, and virulence-related amino acid substitutions were found in multiple sites during mouse lung passage.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the following research funds: National 973 Project (2010CB530301), National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program 2010AA022905, 2010AA022908 and 2010AA022910), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81172738 and No. 81071346), The Innovation Platform Open Funds for Universities in Hunan Province (09K022 and 11K010), International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China (2011DFA31030) and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB/Transregio TRR60).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, Hubei, China

    Yanfeng Yao, Huadong Wang, Quanjiao Chen, Hongbo Zhang, Tao Zhang, Jianjun Chen, Hanzhong Wang & Ze Chen

  2. College of Life Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410081, Hunan, China

    Ze Chen

  3. Shanghai Institute of Biological Products, Shanghai, 200052, China

    Ze Chen

  4. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Yanfeng Yao

  5. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Bing Xu

  6. Laboratory of Molecular Virology, Institute Pasteur of Shanghai, Shanghai Institute of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200025, China

    Bing Sun

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  1. Yanfeng Yao
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Yao, Y., Wang, H., Chen, Q. et al. Characterization of low-pathogenic H6N6 avian influenza viruses in central China. Arch Virol 158, 367–377 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-012-1496-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-012-1496-3

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