Analysis of putative recombination hot sites in the S gene of canine coronaviruses.

Wang, Y Y; Lu, C P

The S gene sequence of Canine coronavirus strain 1-71 (CCoV 1-71) was cloned, sequenced, and compared to those of other CCoVs, Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), and Feline coronavirus (FCoV). The sequence analysis showed that CCoV 1-71 displayed a 98.8-99.8% identity with CCoVs strains V1, K378, and GP. Four putative recombination sites were found at the 5'-end of the S gene, namely at nt 53, 75, 425, 991. Both sequences flanking each site were significantly different. Three recombination hot regions were found on the S gene, namely at nt 337-437, 1545-3405, and 4203-4356, which shared a common recombination signal with Group 2 coronaviruses. The G/CTAAAAA/GT sequence downstream of the recombination site may represent a specific recombination signal in CCoVs. The CCoV 1-71 S protein sequence was found to be similar to those of other CCoVs except for several N-glycosylation sites at the N-terminus of the S protein, which could be related to the differences in virulence and cell tropism in individual CCoVs. This study indicated that the similarity of CCoVs in virulence and tropism was mostly acquired by the homologous RNA recombination and not only by simple mutation and selection.