Sunil K. Mor
Anibal G. Armien
William N. Batts
Andrew E. Goodwin
Lacey Hopper
Rebekah McCann
Terry Fei Fan Ng
Corey Puzach
Thomas B. Waltzek
Eric Delwart
James Winton
Sagar M. Goyal
Nicholas B.D. Phelps
2014
<p><span>During both regulatory and routine surveillance sampling of baitfish from the states of Illinois, Minnesota, Montana, and Wisconsin, USA, isolates (n = 20) of a previously unknown picornavirus were obtained from kidney/spleen or entire viscera of fathead minnows (</span><i>Pimephales promelas</i><span>) and brassy minnows (</span><i>Hybognathus hankinsoni</i><span>). Following the appearance of a diffuse cytopathic effect, examination of cell culture supernatant by negative contrast electron microscopy revealed the presence of small, round virus particles (∼30–32 nm), with picornavirus-like morphology. Amplification and sequence analysis of viral RNA identified the agent as a novel member of the </span><i>Picornaviridae</i><span> family, tentatively named fathead minnow picornavirus (FHMPV). The full FHMPV genome consisted of 7834 nucleotides. Phylogenetic analysis based on 491 amino acid residues of the 3D gene showed 98.6% to 100% identity among the 20 isolates of FHMPV compared in this study while only 49.5% identity with its nearest neighbor, the bluegill picornavirus (BGPV) isolated from bluegill (</span><i>Lepomis macrochirus</i><span>). Based on complete polyprotein analysis, the FHMPV shared 58% (P1), 33% (P2) and 43% (P3) amino acid identities with BGPV and shared less than 40% amino acid identity with all other picornaviruses. Hence, we propose the creation of a new genus (</span><i>Piscevirus</i><span>) within the </span><i>Picornaviridae</i><span> family. The impact of FHMPV on the health of fish populations is unknown at present.</span></p>
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10.1371/journal.pone.0087593
en
Public Library of Science
Isolation and molecular characterization of a novel picornavirus from baitfish in the USA
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