Yinglin Qi1, FangWang1 ,JiTao Chang1 ,Zhigang Jiang1 ,Chao Sun1 ,Jun Lin2,JianminWu2 ,Li Yu1

1State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China

2Guangxi Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Guangxi Veterinary Research Institute, Nanning, China

Transbound Emerg Dis. 2022;1–11. DOI: 10.1111/tbed.14555

Abstract Bluetongue virus (BTV), a member of the genus Orbivirus in the family Reoviridae, is transmitted by biting midges and causes severe disease in domestic and wild ruminants. In the present study, a BTV strain, BTV-20/GX015/China/2013 (GX015), was isolated from sentinel cattle in Guangxi, China. Virus neutralization tests and phylogenetic analyses based on genomic segments 2 (S2) and 6 (S6) indicated that GX015 belongs to BTV serotype 20 (BTV-20) and represents a new topotype within BTV-20 strains, which makes GX015 the first BTV-20 strain isolated in China. Genomic analyses suggested that the 10 genomic segments of GX015 originated from a reassortment event, in which S2 and S6 are derived from exotic BTV-20 strains (South Africa or Australia), whereas the remaining eight genomic segments are apparently of Chinese origin and most likely share the same ancestor with a Taiwanese BTV-12 strain.Importantly, we evaluated the infectivity and pathogenicity of the BTV-20 strain in mice lacking the interferon receptor (IFNAR–/– mice, a good animal model for studying the pathogenesis, virulence and transmission of BTVs) and sheep for the first time, and found that GX015 causes severe disease and death in IFNAR–/– mice and clinical signs and viraemia in the natural host sheep. These results improve our understanding of the genetic characteristics, diversity and pathogenicity of BTVs, which is important for developing diagnosticmethods and vaccines for the surveillance and prevention of bluetongue disease.

KEYWORDS bluetongue virus (BTV), BTV-20, phylogeny, virulence, whole genome sequencing

Genetic characteristics and pathogenicity of the first bluetongue virus serotype.pdf