Whole genome sequencing and evolutionary analysis of G8P [8] rotaviruses emerging in Japan

Tung Phan; Masaaki Kobayashi; Koo Nagasawa; Riona Hatazawa; Ngan Thi Kim Pham; Hideaki Miyashita; Satoshi Komoto; Takeshi Tajima; Tuneyoshi Baba; Shoko Okitsu; Pattara Khamrin; Niwat Maneekarn; Hirokazu Kimura; Takeshi Kobayashi; Satoshi Hayakawa; Hiroshi Ushijima

doi:10.1007/s13337-022-00765-z

Whole genome sequencing and evolutionary analysis of G8P [8] rotaviruses emerging in Japan

Virusdisease. 2022 Jun;33(2):215-218. doi: 10.1007/s13337-022-00765-z. Epub 2022 Apr 25.

Authors

Tung Phan¹, Masaaki Kobayashi², Koo Nagasawa³, Riona Hatazawa⁴, Ngan Thi Kim Pham⁵, Hideaki Miyashita², Satoshi Komoto⁴, Takeshi Tajima², Tuneyoshi Baba², Shoko Okitsu⁵, Pattara Khamrin⁶, Niwat Maneekarn⁶, Hirokazu Kimura⁷, Takeshi Kobayashi⁸, Satoshi Hayakawa⁵, Hiroshi Ushijima⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Clinical Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA USA.
² Japanese Virus Gastroenteritis Research Group, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
³ Division of Infectious Diseases, Chiba Children's Hospital, Chiba, Japan.
⁴ Department of Virology and Parasitology, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan.
⁵ Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Division of Microbiology, Nihon University School of Medicine, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
⁷ Department of Health Science, Graduate School of Health Science, Gunma Paz University, Gunma, Japan.
⁸ Department of Virology, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.

Abstract

Unusual DS-1-like intergenogroup reassortant rotaviruses with a bovine-like G8 genotype (DS-1-like G8P [8] rotaviruses) have emerged and rapidly spread in several countries. In this study, the nucleotide sequences of seven human rotavirus G8P [8] strains in 2017 and 2019 in Japan were determined using viral metagenomics. Its genomic constellation (VP7-VP4-VP6-VP1-VP2-VP3-NSP1-NSP2-NSP3-NSP4-NSP5 genes) was defined as G8-P [8]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A2-N2-T2-E2-H2. Our genetic analysis revealed that the Japanese G8P [8] rotavirus strains in 2017 and 2019 were classified into the same lineages G8-5 and P [8]-3, but they were phylogenetically located on separate branches and belonged to distinct clusters. Our study is the first attempt to investigate the evolution of emerging rotavirus G8P [8] in Japan.

Keywords: Emergence; G8P [8]; Genomic analysis; Rotavirus; Whole genome sequencing.