Genetic reclassification of porcine enteroviruses

The genetic diversity of porcine teschoviruses (PTVs; previously named porcine enterovirus 1) and most serotypes of porcine enteroviruses (PEVs) was studied. Following the determination of the major portion of the genomic sequence of PTV reference strain Talfan, the nucleotide and derived amino acid sequences of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) region, the capsid VP2 region and the 3' non-translated region (3'-NTR) were compared among PTVs and PEVs and with other picornaviruses. The sequences were obtained by RT-PCR and 3'-RACE with primers based on the sequences of Talfan and available PEV strains. Phylogenetic analysis of RdRp/VP2 and analysis of the predicted RNA secondary structure of the 3'-NTR indicated that PEVs should be reclassified genetically into at least three groups, one that should be assigned to PTVs and two PEV subspecies represented by strain PEV-8 V13 and strain PEV-9 UKG410/73.