Characterization of two Austrian porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) field isolates reveals relationship to East Asian strains.

Leonie J Sinn,Isabel Hennig-Pauka,Georg Mößlacher,Benjamin Lamp,Christiane Riedel,Leonie Zieglowski,Till Rümenapf,Bettina Jansko,Hanna Koinig

doi:10.1186/s13567-015-0293-x

Leonie J Sinn, Isabel Hennig-Pauka + Show 7 more

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https://doi.org/10.1186/s13567-015-0293-x

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Abstract

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) causes major problems for the swine industry worldwide. Due to Austria’s central location in Europe, a large number of animals are transported through the country. However, little is known about current PRRSV strains and epidemiology. We determined full-length genome sequences of two Austrian field isolates (AUT13-883 and AUT14-440) from recent PRRSV outbreaks and of a related German isolate (GER09-613). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the strains belong to European genotype 1 subtype 1 and form a cluster together with a South Korean strain. Remarkably, AUT14-440 infected the simian cell line MARC-145 without prior adaptation. In addition, this isolate showed exceptional deletions in nonstructural protein 2, in the overlapping region of glycoprotein 3 and 4 and in the 3′ untranslated region. Both Austrian isolates caused similar lung lesions but only pigs infected with AUT14-440 developed clear clinical signs of infection. Taken together, the genetic and biological characterization of two novel Austrian PRRSV field isolates revealed similarities to East Asian strains. This stresses the necessity for a more detailed analysis of current PRRSV strains in Europe beyond the determination of short ORF5 and ORF7 sequences.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13567-015-0293-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is one of the most economically important pathogens in the swine industry worldwide [1, 2]. It is the etiological agent of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), which is characterized by respiratory disorders as well as by growth retardation in growing pigs and reproductive failure in late gestation sows [3, 4]
The results reveal that the isolated PRRSV-1 subtype 1 field strains (AUT13-883 and AUT14-440) have genetic and phylogenetic similarities to East Asian strains
Case 883 was characterized by mild respiratory disorders and a low virus load that persisted over 2 years

Summary

Introduction

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is one of the most economically important pathogens in the swine industry worldwide [1, 2]. It is the etiological agent of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), which is characterized by respiratory disorders as well as by growth retardation in growing pigs and reproductive failure in late gestation sows [3, 4]. The causative agent, PRRSV, was first isolated in 1991 in the Netherlands [4]. This strain, Lelystad virus (LV), is regarded as the prototype strain of European PRRSV. ORF1a and 1b constitute over 75% of the viral genome and encode two polyproteins, which are cleaved into at least 14 nonstructural proteins (nsp) that are responsible for genome replication and transcription

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