Polymorphic genetic characterization of E2 gene of bovine viral diarrhea virus in China

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is one of the wide distributed pathogenic viruses of livestock and wild animals worldwide. E2 glycoprotein is a major structural component of the BVDV virion and plays a key role in viral attachment to host cells and inducing immune responses against viral infection. In order to gain detailed information of the E2 coding region of BVDV circulating in China, 46 positive samples were tested by RT-PCR for the E2 coding region. The 1122 nt nucleotide sequences of full-length E2 were harvested and analyzed. The results suggested that full-length E2 was an ideal target for BVDV genotyping and divided the domestic BVDV isolates into 9 subgenotypes, namely BVDV-1a, -1b1, -1c, -1d, -1o, -1m, -1p, -1q and BVDV-2a, showing great diversity. The difference of nonsynonymous and synonymous substitution rates (dN-dS) inferred both positive and purifying selection of the E2. However, combination of positive and purifying selection at different points indicated purifying selection within the complete E2. Protein properties analysis based on glycosylation sites and epitope prediction demonstrated that the biological character of E2 among individual BVDV subgenotype was similar, but may alter due to amino acid changes. For the first time, the comprehensive collection of E2 sequences of Chinese BVDV isolates was elucidated, which would provide information for future vaccine design and BVD control in China.