Recombinant of PUUV genome S segment isolated from rodents captured in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia

Abstract

Purpose: Background: Puumala hantavirus (PUUV) is the main cause of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HRFS) in Russia. Although known to cause HFRS endemic in the Republic of Tatarstan (RT), little is known about the genetic diversity of PUUV in the Republic. Therefore, we sought to characterize variations in PUUV S-segment in bank voles in the RT. Methods & Materials: Material and methods: Total of 121 bank voles were captured in the north-west regions of RT during the 2014-2015 HFRS outbreak. Total RNA was extracted from lung tissue and used for RT-PCR and sequence analysis. Results: Results: Comparison analysis of viral S segment sequences (564 bp) revealed 92.9-97.3% nucleotide identity between 29 RT PUUV strains and RUS lineage strains, while the lower similarity of 83.7-87.6% was found in strains from FIN lineage. Interestingly, sequence similarity of four RT PUUV strains and RUS strains was lower 85.8-87.6% than that found in the majority of isolates. Surprisingly, these strains had a higher identity (99.6-99.8%) with strain “Sotkamo” of FIN lineage. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the four strains with low similarity to RUS lineage clustered with the FIN strains cluster. Further analysis of the full coding region of strain “032” S-segment, which had more similarity to FIN lineage, revealed that the partial sequence from 242 to 857 nt was 99.5% identical to “Sotkamo” strain, while the segment from 864 to 1341 nt showed 92.1-93.5% identical to RUS lineage strains. Conclusion: Conclusion: Therefore, our data suggest that strain “032” could be the progeny of the recombination between RUS and FIN genetic lineages. It remains to be determined if recombinant PUUV strains could cause different clinical presentation of HFRS. The Russian Government Program of Competitive Growth of Kazan Federal University supported this study. Also, Albert Rizvanov was supported by state assignment 20.5175.2017/6.7 of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.