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Amino acid substitutions in low pathogenic avian influenza virus strains isolated from wild birds in Korea

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Abstract

Wild birds are natural hosts and reservoirs for influenza A viruses. However, many species, such as many waterfowl, are asymptomatic when infected and so facilitate the generation of viral genetic diversity. Mutations of key genes affect the replicability, pathogenicity, transmissibility, and antiviral resistance of influenza A viruses. In this study, we isolated avian influenza (AI) viruses from wild bird fecal samples and analyzed changes in amino acids over time and geographic region to monitor the biological change of the AI virus. Between 2014 and 2016, we collected 38,921 fresh fecal samples from major wild bird habitats located throughout Korea and isolated 123 AI viruses. We subsequently selected 22 amino acid sites to analyze for changes. These sites included ten sites associated with replication, ten sites associated with pathogenicity, three sites associated with transmission, and seven sites associated with antiviral resistance. We found substitution rates of 71.7% at the C38Y amino acid site within the polymerase basic protein 1 (PB1) gene, 66.7% at the D222G site within the hemagglutinin (HA) 1 gene, and 75.6% at the A184 site within the nucleoprotein (NP) gene. Alterations of the PB1, HA1, and NP genes are closely associated with increased pathogenicity in chickens and mammals. The remaining sites of interest exhibited few modifications. In this study, we confirmed that AI viruses circulating among wild birds in Korea consistently exhibit modifications at amino acid sites linked with replication and pathogenicity.

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Abbreviations

AI:

Avian influenza

LPAI:

Low pathogenic avian influenza

HPAI:

High pathogenic avian influenza

PB1:

Polymerase basic protein 1

PB2:

Polymerase basic protein 2

PA:

Polymerase acidic protein

HA:

Hemagglutinin

NP:

Nucleoprotein

NA:

Neuraminidase

M:

Matrix protein

NS:

Nonstructural protein

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Avian Disease Laboratory of Chungbuk National University for excellent technical assistance and the Biosafety Research Team of National Institute of Environmental Research for contributing to the sampling of the bird feces in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Avian Disease Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, 28644, Korea

    Kwang-Hyun Oh, Jong-Suk Mo, Yeon-Ji Bae, Seung-Baek Lee, Van Dam Lai & In-Pil Mo

  2. Environmental Health Research Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon, Korea

    Seung-Jun Wang

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  1. Kwang-Hyun Oh
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  2. Jong-Suk Mo
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  3. Yeon-Ji Bae
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  4. Seung-Baek Lee
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Correspondence to In-Pil Mo.

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Oh, KH., Mo, JS., Bae, YJ. et al. Amino acid substitutions in low pathogenic avian influenza virus strains isolated from wild birds in Korea. Virus Genes 54, 397–405 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11262-018-1550-7

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