Detection of three independently-generated DS-1-like G9P[8] reassortant rotavirus A strains during the G9P[8] dominance in Vietnam, 2016-2018.

A rapid increase and dominance of G9P[8] Rotavirus A strains occurred in northern Vietnam between 2016 and 2018, during which period there appeared three G9P[8] strains possessing short RNA patterns. To understand how the first-ever G9P[8] strains possessing short RNA patterns were formed, next generation sequencing technology was used to examine the whole genomes of the three strains, i.e., RVA/Human-wt/VNM/RVN16.1024/2016/G9P[8], RVA/Human-wt/VNM/RVN17.0879/2017/G9P[8], and RVA/Human-wt/VNM/RVN18.0197/2018/G9P[8], and those of seven representative G9P[8] strains possessing long RNA patterns. The VP7 genes of the short and long G9P[8] strains were > 99% identical, indicating that the origin was in the co-circulating, dominant, long G9P[8] strains. On the other hand, the VP4 genes likely derived from recently-emerging G1/G3/G8P[8] strains possessing the DS-1 backbone. At the lineage level, however, the backbone genes of any one strain differed from that of the other two in the VP1, VP3 or NSP4 gene. Moreover, even at the nucleotide sequence level of the backbone genes belonging to the same lineage, the identities between the three strains were lower than those expected for the strains deriving from an immediate, common ancestor. Thus, the three strains were likely formed by independent reassortment events in which the VP7 gene of the currently dominant G9P[8] strains was incorporated into co-circulating G1/G3/G8P[8] strains possessing similar yet distinct DS-1-like backbone genes. The observation that all of the three reassortant G9P[8] strains were detected only once among the prevalent, ordinary G9P[8] strains suggests that acquisition of the DS-1-like backbone genes unlikely provided selective advantage over the parental Wa-like G9P[8] strains.