Abstract
Picobirnaviruses (PBV) are small, non-enveloped viruses with a bisegmented double-stranded RNA genome. In this study a PBV strain, PBV/Horse/India/BG-Eq-3/2010, was identified in the faeces of a 10 month old weaned female foal with diarrhoea in January 2010 from Kolkata, India. Surprisingly, sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis of a short stretch of the RNA dependent RNA polymerase gene revealed close genetic relatedness (> 98% nucleotide identity) to a human genogroup I PBV strain (Hu/GPBV1) detected earlier from the same part of India. Our observations together with earlier findings on genetic relatedness between human and animal PBV warrant further studies on zoonotic potential.
Highlights
Picobirnaviruses (PBV) are small, non-enveloped viruses with a bisegmented double-stranded RNA genome
Reactive primer pairs for RT-PCR [8] have served as an alternative to polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), for molecular detection and characterisation of PBV. These RT-PCR primers amplify small fragments within the RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene, and are capable of differentiating 2 major PBV genogroups, genogroup I and genogroup II. These primer sets were utilised in the present study, where we report the detection and molecular characterisation of an equine picobirnavirus detected in a diarrhoeic foal
PBV in horses has been reported earlier [18], this is the first description of an equine PBV strain at the molecular level
Summary
Genogroup I picobirnavirus in diarrhoeic foals: Can the horse serve as a natural reservoir for human infection?. Balasubramanian Ganesh1*, Krisztian Banyai, Gisela Masachessi, Zornitsa Mladenova, Shigeo Nagashima, Souvik Ghosh, Seegekote Mariyappa Nataraju, Madhusudhan Pativada, Rahul Kumar, Nobumichi Kobayashi
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
