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Molecular epidemiological and genetic characterization of pseudorabies virus in Guangxi, China

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Abstract

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is an important pathogen that can cause harm to the pig population. Since 2011, there have been a number of large-scale outbreaks of pseudorabies on Chinese farms where animals had been vaccinated with the Bartha-K61 vaccine. In order to understand the epidemiological trend and genetic variations of PRV in Guangxi province, China, 819 tissue samples were collected from swine farms where PRV infection was suspected from 2013 to 2019, and these were tested for infectious wild strains of PRV. The results showed a positive rate of PRV in Guangxi province of 28.21% (231/819). Thirty-six wild-type PRV strains were successfully isolated from PRV-positive tissue samples, and a genetic evolutionary analysis was performed based on the gB, gC, gD, gE, and TK genes. Thirty of the PRV strains were found to be closely related to the Chinese variant strains HeN1-China-2012 and HLJ8-China-2013. In addition, five PRV strains were genetically related to Chinese classical strains, and one isolate was a recombinant of the PRV variant and the vaccine strain Bartha-K61. Amino acid sequence analysis showed that all 36 PRV strains had characteristic variant sites in the amino acid sequences of the gB, gC, gD, and gE proteins. Pathogenicity analysis showed that, compared to classical PRV strains, the PRV variant strains were more pathogenic in mice and had a lower LD50. Taken together, our results show that wild-type PRV infections are common on pig farms in Guangxi province of China and that the dominant prevalent strains were those of the PRV variants. The PRV variant strains also had increased pathogenicity in mice. Our data will provide a useful reference for understanding the prevalence and genetic evolution of PRV in China.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation (Grant no. 32260875). The authors would like to thank Dr. Dev Sooranna, Imperial College, London, for editing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Animal Infectious Diseases and Molecular Immunology, College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, China

    Xiangmei Huang, Xuying Wang, Tongwei Ren, Kang Ouyang, Ying Chen, Zuzhang Wei, Yifeng Qin & Weijian Huang

  2. Guangxi Veterinary Research Institute, Nanning, Guangxi, China

    Shuying Qin, Lishi Xu & Shuo Zhao

  3. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Engineering Research Center of Veterinary Biologics, Nanning, China

    Xiangmei Huang, Xuying Wang, Tongwei Ren, Kang Ouyang, Ying Chen, Zuzhang Wei, Yifeng Qin & Weijian Huang

  4. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Animal Reproduction, Breeding and Disease Control, Nanning, China

    Xiangmei Huang, Xuying Wang, Tongwei Ren, Kang Ouyang, Ying Chen, Zuzhang Wei, Yifeng Qin & Weijian Huang

  5. Guangxi Colleges and Universities Key Laboratory of Prevention and Control for Animal Disease, Nanning, China

    Xiangmei Huang, Xuying Wang, Tongwei Ren, Kang Ouyang, Ying Chen, Zuzhang Wei, Yifeng Qin & Weijian Huang

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  1. Xiangmei Huang
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Correspondence to Yifeng Qin or Weijian Huang.

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Huang, X., Qin, S., Wang, X. et al. Molecular epidemiological and genetic characterization of pseudorabies virus in Guangxi, China. Arch Virol 168, 285 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-023-05907-2

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