Viruses, Vol. 16, Pages 675: First Report of Endemic Frog Virus 3 (FV3)-like Ranaviruses in the Korean Clawed Salamander (Onychodactylus koreanus) in Asia

Viruses, Vol. 16, Pages 675: First Report of Endemic Frog Virus 3 (FV3)-like Ranaviruses in the Korean Clawed Salamander (Onychodactylus koreanus) in Asia Viruses doi: 10.3390/v16050675 Authors: Jongsun Kim Haan Woo Sung Tae Sung Jung Jaejin Park Daesik Park Frog virus 3 (FV3) in the genus Ranavirus of the family Iridoviridae causes mass mortality in both anurans and urodeles worldwide; however, the phylogenetic origin of FV3-like ranaviruses is not well established. In Asia, three FV3-like ranaviruses have been reported in farmed populations of amphibians and reptiles. Here, we report the first case of endemic FV3-like ranavirus infections in the Korean clawed salamander Onychodactylus koreanus, caught in wild mountain streams in the Republic of Korea (ROK), through whole-genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Two isolated FV3-like ranaviruses (Onychodactylus koreanus ranavirus, OKRV1 and 2) showed high similarity with the Rana grylio virus (RGV, 91.5%) and Rana nigromaculata ranavirus (RNRV, 92.2%) but relatively low similarity with the soft-shelled turtle iridovirus (STIV, 84.2%) in open reading frame (ORF) comparisons. OKRV1 and 2 formed a monophyletic clade with previously known Asian FV3-like ranaviruses, a sister group of the New World FV3-like ranavirus clade. Our results suggest that OKRV1 and 2 are FV3-like ranaviruses endemic to the ROK, and RGV and RNRV might also be endemic strains in China, unlike previous speculation. Our data have great i...
Source: Viruses - Category: Virology Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research