Phylodynamics of the Brazilian feline immunodeficiency virus

• Published in: Infection, genetics and evolution genetics and evolution, 2017-11, Vol.55, p.166-171
• Main Authors: Cano-Ortiz, Lucía, Junqueira, Dennis Maletich, Comerlato, Juliana, Costa, Cristina Santos, Zani, André, Duda, Naila Blatt, Tochetto, Caroline, dos Santos, Raissa Nunes, da Costa, Fernanda Vieira Amorim, Roehe, Paulo Michel, Franco, Ana Cláudia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Brazil - epidemiology; Cats; Feline Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - epidemiology; Feline Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - virology; Feline immunodeficiency virus; Genes, env; Genetic Variation; Genotype; Immunodeficiency Virus, Feline - classification; Immunodeficiency Virus, Feline - genetics; Molecular clock; Phylogeny; Recombination; Recombination, Genetic; Subtype B
• ISSN: 1567-1348; 1567-7257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2017.09.011

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), like other retroviruses, displays large genomic divergence when different isolates are compared. In this study, 31 FIV positive samples of domestic cats from Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil were used aiming at a detailed genomic characterization and a better understanding of the molecular epidemiology of the virus in Brazil. The proviral env genes were partially amplified, sequenced and compared with another 237 sequences from different continents. We identified several Brazilian highly supported clades (A, B1, B2, C and D) that suggest independent events of introduction of FIV in Brazil. Forty six reference-sequences from the GenBank were used with our 31 sequences to infer the virus subtypes. Our sequences belong to the subtype B and three of them result from a recombination with the previously described subtype F. The other 28 Brazilian samples belonging to subtype B and another 46 Brazilian sequences from the GenBank were used to estimate the time to the most recent common ancestor of each Brazilian clade, using a Bayesian approach and a relaxed molecular clock model. The analyses of Brazilian sequences suggest several different entries of the virus in the Brazilian cat population between 1981 and 1991. •Thirty-one new nucleotide sequences of C4-V4 region of FIV env gene from Porto Alegre, Brazil.•FIV-B/F recombinants were detected.•Several highly supported clades suggest different entries of the virus in Brazil.•The median estimated evolutionary rate for the env region was 1.3×10−3 subst/site per year.