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Home >Foods and Raw Materials > Archive > Volume 15, Issue 2, 2027 > Genetic heterogeneity and pathogenetic mechanisms of bovine leukemia virus
ISSN 2308-4057 (Print),
ISSN 2310-9599 (Online)

Genetic heterogeneity and pathogenetic mechanisms of bovine leukemia virus

Petropavlovsky Maxim V. a
,
Donnik Irina M. a
,
Krivonogova Anna S. b
,
Isaeva Albina G. a
,
Badretdinova Alisa S. a
,
Martynov Nikolay A. a
Affiliation
a Ural Federal Agrarian Scientific Research Centre, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg
b Ural State Agrarian University, Yekaterinburg
Copyright ©Petropavlovsky et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
DOI: http://doi.org/10.21603/2308-4057-2027-2-707
Abstract
Bovine leukemia virus is an RNA virus of the Retrovivridae family. It causes a chronic infectious disease in farm animals that poses a serious threat to global cattle farming. According to phylogenetic studies, the pathogen is classified into 12 genotypes.
This comprehensive bioinformatic analysis featured new bovine leukemia virus isolates (n = 57) sampled from various regions of the Russian Federation with different epizootic situations. The analysis featured both new sequences and old samples from Russia available in the National Center for Biotechnology Information. This large-scale approach made it possible to cover all known genotypes.
G4 genotype was associated with major amino acid substitutions in gp51 (T47A, A73P, R121H in epitope G; S56F in epitope H; I144T in ND2; D166G in CD8+). These substitutions provide a selective advantage through immune evasion mechanisms, including escape from humoral immunity, impaired T-cell recognition, and increased receptor affinity. G4 also correlated with rapid progression.
The rapid replacement of G7 by G4 in the Tyumen Region and the general dominance of G4 in Russia were due to a more aggressive course of infection resulting from the genetic ability of the pathogen to adapt to the host immune system. The obtained data underscore the necessity of developing genotype-specific diagnostic systems and implementing routine molecular-genetic monitoring to control the spread of bovine leukemia virus. New data on genetic variability and its impact on genotype-phenotype correlations may help curb the infection.
Keywords
Bovine leukemia virus, bioinformatic analysis, genotype G4, gp51, amino acid substitutions, env gene, epitope, epizootiology, virus evolution, diagnostics
FUNDING
The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 23-16-00103, https://rscf.ru/project/23-16-00103/ 
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How to quote?
Petropavlovsky MV, Donnik IM, Krivonogova AS, Isaeva AG, Badretdinova AS, et al. Genetic heterogeneity and pathogenetic mechanisms of bovine leukemia virus. Foods and Raw Materials. 2027;15(2):257–269. https://doi.org/10.21603/2308-4057-2027-2-707 
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