M gene analysis of atypical strains of feline and canine coronavirus circulating in an Austrian animal shelter

• Published in: Veterinary record Vol. 159; no. 6; pp. 170 - 174
• Main Authors: Benetka, V., Kolodziejek, J., Walk, K., Rennhofer, M., Möstl, K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group Limited 05-08-2006; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; animal rescue shelters; Animals; Austria - epidemiology; Canine coronavirus; Cat Diseases - epidemiology; Cat Diseases - virology; Cats; Coronavirus - classification; Coronavirus - isolation & purification; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - veterinary; Coronavirus Infections - virology; Coronavirus, Canine - classification; Coronavirus, Canine - isolation & purification; Coronavirus, Feline - classification; Coronavirus, Feline - isolation & purification; DNA, Viral - analysis; Dog Diseases - epidemiology; Dog Diseases - virology; Dogs; Feces - virology; Feline coronavirus; Female; Male; Molecular Sequence Data; Multigene Family; Phylogeny; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction - veterinary; RNA, Viral - analysis; Sequence Alignment; sequence analysis; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Species Specificity; Viral Matrix Proteins - analysis; Austria
• ISSN: 0042-4900; 2042-7670
• DOI: 10.1136/vr.159.6.170

Coronavirus-positive samples of faeces collected in an Austrian animal shelter from 12 cats and 10 dogs were analysed by reverse transcriptase-pcr with primers amplifying a segment of the M protein gene, and by sequence analysis. In addition, the samples were subjected to S gene typing, using primers that differentiated between feline coronavirus (fcov) types I and II. A phylogenetic analysis of the M gene sequences revealed not only clearly segregating canine coronavirus (ccov) in the dogs, typical ccov sequences and the recently described fcov-like ccov, but also at least two genetic clusters of fcov in the cats, one species-specific, the other more closely related to fcov-like ccov. The M gene sequences of these new feline strains had at most 88 per cent identity with the fcov-like ccov strain 259/01 and only up to 85 per cent with any fcov sequence available in GenBank. In the phylogenetic tree they occupy an intermediate position between feline and canine coronaviruses.