Molecular characteristics and evolutionary analysis of a very virulent infectious bursal disease virus.

Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) poses a significant threat to the poultry industry. Viral protein 2 (VP2), the major structural protein of IBDV, has been subjected to frequent mutations that have imparted tremendous genetic diversity to the virus. To determine how amino acid mutations may affect the virulence of IBDV, we built a structural model of VP2 of a very virulent strain of IBDV identified in China, vvIBDV Gx, and performed a molecular dynamics simulation of the interaction between virulence sites.

Isolation and full-genome sequence of two reticuloendotheliosis virus strains from mixed infections with Marek's disease virus in China.

Reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV), classified as a gammaretrovirus, has a variety of hosts, including chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, and wild birds. REV causes a series of pathological syndromes, especially the immunosuppression of the host, which may lead to an increased susceptibility to other pathogens, thus greatly damaging the poultry industry. Mixed infections of REV and Marek's disease virus (MDV) have been reported in many countries, including China.

Isolation and genetic characterization of bovine parainfluenza virus type 3 from cattle in China.

Bovine parainfluenza virus type 3 (BPIV3) is one of the most important of the known viral respiratory pathogens of both young and adult cattle. However BPIV3 has not been detected or isolated in China prior to this study. In 2008, four BPIV3 strains were isolated with MDBK cells from cattle in China and characterized by RT-PCR, nucleotide sequence analysis, transmission electron microscope observation, hemadsorption and hemagglutination tests.

Genotyping of bovine viral diarrhea viruses from cattle in China between 2005 and 2008.

Eighteen bovine viral diarrhea viruses (BVDV) from cattle in China between 2005 and 2008 were genetically typed by sequencing of the 5'-untranslated region (5'-UTR) of the viral genome and for selected isolates the N(pro) region. Phylogenetic reconstructions indicated that all of the 18 BVDV positive samples examined in this work clustered within the BVDV type 1 genotype. Of the 15 previously described subgenotypes of BVDV1 (1a-1o), 12 of the samples examined in this work clustered with the Chinese BVDV ZM-95 strain of pig origin, which was the prototype of BVDV1m, while 2 samples clustered with the BVDV1b.

Construction of a recombinant BHV-1 expressing the VP1 gene of foot and mouth disease virus and its immunogenicity in a rabbit model.

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) are two important infectious diseases of cattle. Using bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1) as a gene delivery vector for development of live-viral vaccines has gained widespread interest. In this study, a recombinant BHV-1 was constructed by inserting the synthetic FMDV (O/China/99) VP1 gene in the the gE locus of BHV-1 genome under the control of immediately early gene promoter of human cytomegalovirus (phIE CMV) and bovine growth hormone polyadenylation (BGH polyA) signal.