Molecular characterization of novel P[14],G8 bovine group A rotavirus, Sun9, isolated in Japan

In this study, a novel bovine group A rotavirus (RV-A), Sun9, isolated from calf diarrhea in the Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, was characterized genetically by the sequence analysis of the genome segments encoding VP4 and VP7. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the genome segments encoding VP4 and VP7 of Sun9 revealed high homology with P[14] human and lapine RV-As (80.2-88.7% and 90.9-94.8%) and G8 bovine and human RV-As (83.1-95.5% and 92.3-98.2%). Sun9 was also classified into P[14] and G8 in the phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequences of the genome segments encoding VP4 and VP7. Although previous reports have suggested that P[14],G8 human RV-As isolated until now were obtained from the reassortment between human and bovine RV-As, or the interspecies transmission of bovine RV-A to human, no P[14],G8 bovine RV-A has yet been reported. Sun9 may be initial direct evidence of the above hypothesis.