Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of an avian reovirus genome

Avian reovirus infection causes considerable economic loss to the commercial poultry industry. Live-attenuated vaccine strain S1133 (v-S1133, derived from parent strain S1133) is considered the safest and most effective vaccine and is currently used worldwide. To identify the genes responsible for its attenuation, DNA sequences of open reading frames (ORF) of S1133 and its parent strains S1133, 1733, 526, and C78 along with three field isolates (GuangxiR1, GuangxiR2, and GX110058) and one isolate (GX110116) from a vaccinated chicken were performed. The sequence data were compared with available sequences in nucleotide sequence databases of American (AVS-B, 138, 176) and Chinese (C-98 and T-98) origin. Sequence analysis identified that several v-S1133 specific nucleotide substitutions existed in the ORFs of lambda A, lambda B, lambda C, mu A, mu B, mu NS, sigma A, sigma B, and sigma NS genes. The v-S1133 strain could be differentiated from the field-isolated strains based on single nucleotide polymorphisms. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that v-S1133 shared the highest sequence homologies with S1133 and reovirus isolates from China, grouped together in one cluster. Chinese isolates were clearly more distinct from the American reovirus AVS-B strain, which is associated with runting-stunting syndrome in broilers.