Phylogenetic diversity of avian nephritis virus in Hungarian chicken flocks

Avian nephritis virus (ANV) infection was detected in 4-day-old to 22-day-old chickens collected on Hungarian farms between 2002 and 2005. The animals suffered from diarrhoea, growth retardation, runting-stunting syndrome, and 2 to 6% mortality was reported. Tubulonephrosis, interstitial nephritis and uricosis (gout) was diagnosed. The presence of ANV RNA was detected in chicken carcasses using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The virus was demonstrated in 69% of the investigated farms. The nucleotide sequence of the amplification products (corresponding to part of the genome that encodes the GP1 protein) was determined and phylogenetic analysis was performed. The nucleotide sequences showed 76 to 86% identity to the reference strain isolated in 1976 in Japan. The constructed phlyogenetic tree indicates high diversity of the Hungarian ANV sequences, regardless of their origin and year of sample collection. Analysis of the putative amino acid sequences encoded by the partial GP1 sequences also revealed high diversity of the virus. Even samples collected at the same farm, at the same time but from different flocks, differed in nucleotide and putative amino acid sequences. The possible effects of the sequence diversity on the pathogenicity, antigenicity and diagnostics of ANV are discussed.