Diversity and Reassortment Rate of Influenza A Viruses in Wild Ducks and Gulls.

Yulia Postnikova,Aydar Ishmukhametov,Galina Sadykova,Alexey Prilipov,Mikhail Matrosovich,Alexandra Gambaryan,Ron A M Fouchier,Elizaveta Boravleva,Anastasia Treshchalina,Natalia Lomakina

doi:10.3390/v13061010

Abstract

Influenza A viruses (IAVs) evolve via point mutations and reassortment of viral gene segments. The patterns of reassortment in different host species differ considerably. We investigated the genetic diversity of IAVs in wild ducks and compared it with the viral diversity in gulls. The complete genomes of 38 IAVs of H1N1, H1N2, H3N1, H3N2, H3N6, H3N8, H4N6, H5N3, H6N2, H11N6, and H11N9 subtypes isolated from wild mallard ducks and gulls resting in a city pond in Moscow, Russia were sequenced. The analysis of phylogenetic trees showed that stable viral genotypes do not persist from year to year in ducks owing to frequent gene reassortment. For comparison, similar analyses were carried out using sequences of IAVs isolated in the same period from ducks and gulls in The Netherlands. Our results revealed a significant difference in diversity and rates of reassortment of IAVs in ducks and gulls.

Highlights

Wild aquatic birds of the orders Anseriformes and Charadriiformes are natural hosts of Influenza A viruses (IAVs) [1]
IAVs of H1–H12, H14, and H15 HA subtypes mainly circulate in ducks; these IAVs replicate in the intestine, cause asymptomatic infections, and transmit by the fecal-oral route through the water [1]
Feces were suspended in 1 mL of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) supplemented with 0.4 mg/mL gentamicin, 0.1 mg/mL kanamycin, 0.01 mg/mL

Summary

Introduction

Wild aquatic birds of the orders Anseriformes (ducks, geese, and swans) and Charadriiformes (gulls, terns, waders, and plovers) are natural hosts of IAVs [1]. In these birds, 16 antigenic subtypes of hemagglutinin (HA) and 9 antigenic subtypes of neuraminidase (NA). IAVs of H13 and H16 HA subtypes mainly circulate in gulls, causing epidemics among chicks in densely populated breeding colonies These gull IAVs replicate in the intestine and the respiratory tract, and can transmit both by the fecal-oral route and through the air [3,4,5]. The patterns of replication and transmission differ between IAVs of ducks and gulls

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