Detection of the Siberian Tick-borne Encephalitis Virus in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwestern China.
- Author:
Ran LIU
;
Guilin ZHANG
;
Xiaoming LIU
;
Yuchang LI
;
Zhong ZHENG
;
Xiang SUN
;
Yinhui YANG
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH:
Animals;
Arachnid Vectors;
virology;
China;
Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne;
classification;
genetics;
isolation & purification;
Encephalitis, Tick-Borne;
transmission;
virology;
Genome, Viral;
Humans;
Ixodes;
virology;
Molecular Sequence Data;
Phylogeny
- From:
Chinese Journal of Virology
2016;32(1):26-31
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Until the recent emergence/re-emergence of human-pathogenic viruses in ticks, tick-borne viruses have been neglected as causative agents of human disease (particularly in China). To gain insight into the diversity of tick-borne viruses in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (northwestern China), we conducted illumina deep sequencing-based screening for virus-derived small RNAs in field-collected Ixodes persulcatus ticks. We found 32, 631 unique virus-matched reads. In particular, 77 reads mapped to the tick-borne group within the genus of Flavivirus, and covered 3.8%-2.4% viral genomes. In addition, 32 unique reads were specific to the Siberian subtype of tick-borne encephalitis viruses (TBEV-Sib) which have never been reported in Chinese TBE loci. We confirmed the potential existence of TBEV-Sib by amplification (using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) of genomic fragments from the envelope gene or 3' genomic terminus from the pools of examined ticks. Both sequences demonstrated high homology to TBEV-Sib strains attached geographically to southern Siberia with nucleotide identity of 97.2%-95.5% and aminoacid identity of 99.4%-98.3%, respectively. In conclusion, we report, for the first time, detection of TBEV-Sib in the natural TBE loci of China. These novel data may provide genetic information for further isolation and epidemiologic investigation of TBEV-Sib.
