Presentations

In Germany, in 1970, a serologically new type of bovine adenovirus was isolated by Kretzschmar from calves suffering from enzootic pneumonia. The new strain (V87/70) was presumed to belong to the so-called “second subgroup” of bovine adenoviruses due to its weak replication ability (it could only be propagated in a primary cell culture derived from calf testicle) and characteristic intranuclear inclusion bodies. Nowadays, these viruses are members of the new genus Atadenovirus.

I started analyzing the genome of the virus strain V87/70 in order to examine whether molecular methods confirm the separation of the new type, as well as to determine its taxonomical status at the genus level. Several well conserved regions of the genes of the DNA polymerase, hexon, IVa2, and penton base were amplified by PCR using degenerate consensus primers. By means of specific primers designed on the basis of the PCR products, additional, longer DNA stretches were amplified and sequenced.

Based on the DNA sequences acquired so far, the G+C content of the genome (53.9%) can be considered balanced, effectively disproving the affiliation of the virus with bovine atadenoviruses with genomes of high A+T content. The molecular examinations and the following phylogenetic calculations clearly show that V87/70 is a mastadenovirus and it significantly differs from the rest of the bovine mastadenoviruses (BAdV-1, -2, -3, -9, -10). On grounds of the extent of the phylogenetic distance, it looks reasonable to establish a new BAdV species for this virus.