Complete genome sequence of pigeon circovirus detected in racing pigeons in western Japan.

We report the genetic analysis of a pigeon circovirus (PiCV/Japan/2/2010) detected in a racing pigeon with diarrheal symptoms in western Japan. Sequencing revealed a genome size of 2,041 bp that contained 3 open reading frames (ORFs), designated V1, C1, and C2, a structure consistent with to those of other pigeon circoviruses. Phylogenetic analyses of the ORF C1 revealed that PiCV/Japan/2/2010 diverges from other Asian pigeon circoviruses, suggesting genetic diversity of pigeon circoviruses in Asia.

Typing of Melissococcus plutonius isolated from European and Japanese honeybees suggests spread of sequence types across borders and between different Apis species.

Melissococcus plutonius is an important pathogen of honeybee larvae and causes European foulbrood (EFB) not only in European honeybees (Apis mellifera) but also in other native honeybees. We recently confirmed the first EFB case in Japanese native honeybees (Apis cerana japonica) and isolated M. plutonius from this case.