ACTA VETERINARIA ET ZOOTECHNICA SINICA ›› 2018, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (10): 2205-2214.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2018.10.016

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Molecular and Antigenic Analyses of Six H9N2-subtype Avian Influenza Viruses Isolated from Broiler Chicken Farms of Shandong Province in 2017

HUANG Yan-yan1, LI Yue1,2, ZHANG Lin1, WANG Jin-sheng3, WU Fu-jie3, WU Jia-qiang1*, LIU Si-dang2*   

  1. 1. Shandong Key Laboratory of Animal Disease Control and Breeding, Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, China;
    2. College of Animal Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an 271018, China;
    3. Shandong Feng Xiang Co. LTD, Yanggu 252300, China
  • Received:2017-11-23 Online:2018-10-23 Published:2018-10-23

Abstract:

Avian influenza of H9N2 subtype has been prevalent in chicken flocks of China for years. To elucidate the molecular evolution and antigenic mutation of H9N2 viruses in a chicken farm of Liaocheng, Shandong province in 2017, 6 viruses isolated were analyzed for their molecular characteristics through whole-genome sequencing, and compared with the vaccine strain for their reactivity by Hemagglutination inhibitation test. Nucleotide blast results showed that gene sequences most homologous to each gene segment of the isolates were detected from many reference viruses of wide geographic range including Shandong, Hebei, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong and Japan. These results indicated the extensive transmission of the viruses and the frequent reassortment of the viral genes. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the 8 gene segments of the viruses were closely related to several phylogenetic clades of Eurasian avian lineage, including A/duck/HongKong/Y280-clade, A/quail/HongKong/G1/97-clade and A/chicken/Shanghai/F/98-clade. Genotypic analysis showed that all 6 viral isolates belonged to G57 genotype, which has been the dominant H9N2 genotype in China since 2010. Analysis of key amino acids related to drug resistance demonstrated mutation of S31N of M2 protein, a molecular marker related to viral resistance to ion channel protein inhibitors. In addition, 1 000 serum samples were tested for their antibody level against H9N2 AIVs in cross hemagglutination inhibitation test, with antigens of viral isolates and the vaccine strain, respectively. Antigens of viral isolates resulted in 1 to 2 log2 lower antibodies in comparison with the vaccine antigen, indicating minor HA antigenic difference between the prevalent viral strain and the vaccine strain. In conclusion, we found that the 6 H9N2 avian influenza viruses prevalent in the chicken flock in 2017 belonged to G57 genotype, and there is a slight difference in HA reactivity between the isolates and the vaccine strain.

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