Molecular characterization of an imported dengue virus serotype 4 isolate from Thailand

Abstract

The epidemic of dengue virus infections has spread markedly in Yunnan province of China in recent years due to an increase in the number of imported dengue cases. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to report a whole genome sequence and molecular characterization of an imported DENV-4 isolate from Thailand. The current strain, 2013JH285, has an RNA genome of 10,772 nucleotides that shares 99.0% nucleotide and 99.7% amino acid sequence identity with the 2013 Thailand strain CTI2-13. Phylogenetic analysis of the whole genome sequence revealed that the 2013JH285 strain belongs to genotype I of DENV-4. Recombination analysis suggested that the 2013JH285 strain originated from inter-genotypic recombination of DENV-4 strains. The new complete DENV-4 genome sequence reported here might contribute to further understanding of the molecular epidemiology and disease surveillance of DENV-4 in China.

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Archives of Virology (2018) 163:2903–2906
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-018-3906-7
ANNOTATED SEQUENCE RECORD
Molecular characterization ofanimported dengue virus serotype 4
isolate fromThailand
LingMo1,2· JiandongShi1,2,3· XiaofangGuo3· ZhaopingZeng1,2· NingzhuHu1,2,3· JingSun1,2,3· MeiniWu1,2,3·
HongningZhou3· YunzhangHu1,2,3
Received: 9 February 2018 / Accepted: 23 May 2018 / Published online: 14 June 2018
© Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract
The epidemic of dengue virus infections has spread markedly in Yunnan province of China in recent years due to an increase
in the number of imported dengue cases. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to report a whole genome
sequence and molecular characterization of an imported DENV-4 isolate from Thailand. The current strain, 2013JH285, has
an RNA genome of 10,772 nucleotides that shares 99.0% nucleotide and 99.7% amino acid sequence identity with the 2013
Thailand strain CTI2-13. Phylogenetic analysis of the whole genome sequence revealed that the 2013JH285 strain belongs
to genotype I of DENV-4. Recombination analysis suggested that the 2013JH285 strain originated from inter-genotypic
recombination of DENV-4 strains. The new complete DENV-4 genome sequence reported here might contribute to further
understanding of the molecular epidemiology and disease surveillance of DENV-4 in China.
Dengue is a widespread mosquito-borne viral disease caused
by dengue virus (DENV). Since 2010, the largest numbers
of dengue-related cases have been recorded in the Western
Pacific Region, Southeast Asia and Asian countries, closely
followed by the American region, while there is a relatively
low occurrence of the disease in the Eastern Mediterranean
region, Europe and Africa [1]. Approximately 390 million
dengue infections are estimated to occur annually worldwide
[2, 3]. The infected individuals tend to be young, with a
mean age of 30.1 years [1]. Thus, dengue imposes severe
disease and economic burden on both individuals and gov-
ernments of tropical and subtropical countries [2].
DENV possesses a 10.7-kb, linear, single-strand and
positive-sense RNA genome. It belongs to the genus Fla-
vivirus of the family Flaviviridae and has four known
distinguishable serotypes (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3
and DENV-4). There is less epidemiological and com-
plete genome sequence information available for DENV-4
than for the other serotypes [4]. Nevertheless, population
genetics studies show that the re-emergence and increase
in DENV-4 frequency in the United States and Asian popu-
lations is influenced by the interaction of multiple factors
such as episodic positive selection, spatiotemporal distribu-
tion, and recombination [5, 6]. From 2010 to 2014, a total of
53,743 outbreak-associated dengue cases were documented
in China, of which 3.57% occurred in Yunnan province,
mainly between the months of August and November [7].
Geographically, Yunnan province is in southwest China and
borders with the dengue-endemic areas of Southeast Asian
countries [8]. Thailand is a highly DENV-4-endemic country
[9], and sporadic imported DENV-4 cases from Thailand
have been reported in Yunnan [10]. However, molecular
characterizations were only available for the viral E gene,
and the complete genome sequence of an imported DENV-4
isolate from Thailand is still lacking.
Handling Editor: Tim Skern.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this
article (https ://doi.org/10.1007/s0070 5-018-3906-7) contains
supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
* Hongning Zhou
zhouhn66@163.com
* Yunzhang Hu
huyunzhangym@126.com
1 Institute ofMedical Biology, Chinese Academy
ofMedical Sciences andPeking Union Medical College,
Kunming650118, China
2 Yunnan Key Laboratory ofVaccine Research
andDevelopment ofSevere Infectious Disease,
Kunming650118, China
3 Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory ofVector-borne
Diseases Control andResearch, Yunnan Provincial Center
ofArborvirus Research, Yunnan Institute ofParasitic
Diseases, Pu’er665000, Yunnan, China
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