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Updated: Apr 16, 2026

Isolation of Fidelity Variants of RNA Viruses and Characterization of Virus Mutation Frequency
Published on: June 16, 2011
Genetic heterogeneity and recombination in type-3 human astroviruses
Maria Cristina Medici1, Fabio Tummolo1, Vito Martella2
1Unit of Microbiology and Virology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Abstract:
Human astroviruses (HAstVs) are important enteric pathogens and can be classified genetically and antigenically into eight types. During molecular surveillance for HAstVs in Italy, sequence analysis of the diagnostic region C (about 400 nucleotide in length), located on the capsid (ORF2) gene, identified a novel type-3 strain. Upon sequencing of the full-length ORF2, the type-3 HAstV strain was characterized as a novel ORF2 genetic lineage, designated as 3c. By converse, in the ORF1b the virus was more similar to type-1 HAstVs, rather than to type-3 strains, suggesting a recombination nature, with the crossover site being mapped to the ORF1b/ORF2 junction region. Region C sequences of similar type-3 HAstV identified from European and extra-European countries were retrieved in the databases, suggesting the global distribution of this novel type-3 lineage.
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