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Genetic characterization of astroviruses detected in guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) reveals a distinct genotype and suggests cross-species transmission between turkey and guinea fowl

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Abstract

Astroviruses can infect mammalian and avian species and are often responsible for gastroenteric disease symptoms. In this study, the complete open reading frame (ORF) 2, the 3′ end of ORF1b and the corresponding intergenic region of astroviruses identified in farmed guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) were sequenced and genetically analysed. Overall, the genetic sequence of guinea fowl astroviruses was related to turkey astrovirus type 2 (TastV2), although a marked genetic distance was revealed based on ORF2, which might indicate the circulation of a distinct virus genotype and serotype in guinea fowl. Furthermore, the genetic data presented herein suggest that either recombination between different astroviruses infecting distinct hosts or adaptation of a given astrovirus to a new host had occurred. In either case, direct or indirect interspecies transmission of astroviruses is likely to have occurred between turkey and guinea fowl, indicating the ability of viruses belonging to the family Astroviridae to cross species barriers.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported financially by the Italian Ministry of Health (RC 27/07). We are grateful to Ellero Francesca (IZSVe-Italy) for revising the manuscript, and Fusaro Alice (Research & Innovation Department, IZSVe, Italy) for commenting on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, OIE/FAO and National Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza and Newcastle disease, OIE Collaborating Centre for Diseases at the Human Animal Interface, Viale dell’Università 10, 35020, Legnaro, Padova, Italy

    Cristian De Battisti, Annalisa Salviato, Anna Toffan, Ilaria Capua & Giovanni Cattoli

  2. Department of Animal Health, National Veterinary Institute, P.O. Box 750 Sentrum, 0106, Oslo, Norway

    Christine Monceyron Jonassen

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  1. Cristian De Battisti
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  2. Annalisa Salviato
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  3. Christine Monceyron Jonassen
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  4. Anna Toffan
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  5. Ilaria Capua
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  6. Giovanni Cattoli
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Correspondence to Giovanni Cattoli.

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De Battisti, C., Salviato, A., Jonassen, C.M. et al. Genetic characterization of astroviruses detected in guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) reveals a distinct genotype and suggests cross-species transmission between turkey and guinea fowl. Arch Virol 157, 1329–1337 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-012-1311-1

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