The nucleotide sequence of the vp2 gene of the epizootic strain of infectious bursal disease virus and comparing it with classical and highly virulent strains

Abstract

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) virus is the causative agent of a severe immunosuppressive disease in young birds. Although the disease was first discovered more than 60 years ago, it continues to pose a significant threat to the poultry industry worldwide [4]. The causative agent is RNA-containing virus, which belongs to the genus Avibirnavirus of the family Birnaviridae [17].The virion includes five viral proteins, designated VP1, VP2, VP3, VP4, and VP5 [15] with an approximate molecular weight of 97 kDa, 41 kDa, 32 kDa, 28 kDa, and 21 kDa, respectively. Additional proteins such as VPX or pVP2 are also noted [12]. The capsid protein VP2 has long been a focus of recombinant subunit vaccine development because it is responsible for eliciting a protective immune response against IBD. However, reports of many authors [2,3,6] point to the antigenic heterogeneity of IBD virus strains isolated in Russia and other countries, which is associated with the failure of existing vaccines in preventing the disease; therefore, to create and successfully use recombinant vaccines, it is necessary to study epizootic strains isolated in the Russian Federation as well.Therefore, the purpose of this work was to perform genetic analysis of the VP2 gene of the epizootic strain "Sinyavinsky" and compare it with the classical strains of IBD virus serotypes 1 and 2 isolated in Europe and highly virulent strains isolated in the Russian Federation.