This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Liu, J.
Right arrow Articles by Chen, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Liu, J.
Right arrow Articles by Chen, J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2009, p. 1418-1423, Vol. 47, No. 5
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.01806-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Genotyping of Clinical Varicella-Zoster Virus Isolates Collected in China{triangledown}

Jingjing Liu,1 Mingli Wang,1 Lin Gan,1 Sen Yang,2 and Jason Chen1,3*

Department of Microbiology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China,1 Department of Dermatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China,2 Department of Pathology & Cell Biology, Columbia University, New York, New York 100323

Received 18 September 2008/ Returned for modification 3 February 2009/ Accepted 17 February 2009

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is genetically stable; and various schemes for the genotyping of VZV based on restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs), PCR, and sequencing have been developed. At least three major genotypes have been recognized among VZV isolates or clinical samples from different locations around the world; however, few data were available for viral isolates from China. In the current study, a collection of 19 VZV isolates from patients with zoster or varicella in the middle eastern region of China was examined for genetic variations. RFLP analysis of DNA fragments of open reading frames (ORFs) 38, 54, and 62 showed that all 19 isolates were PstI and BglI positive and SmaI negative, and this may represent the major restriction pattern of wild-type VZV strains in China. Further analysis of the R5 variable-repeat region in those strains revealed that 9 (47.4%) were type R5A, while the remaining 10 strains (52.6%) were type R5B. On the basis of the sequencing data for ORFs 1, 21, 22, and 54, all 19 Chinese strains could be grouped into genotype J or J1. A novel in-frame 3-nucleotide insertion (CGG) in ORF1 was found in 4 (21%) of the 19 isolates. Additionally three new nucleotide substitutions were detected in two of the isolates. A varicella isolate from the United States, strain MLS, was included in this study as a control for American wild-type VZV, and was found to be type M1, which represents one of the minor genotypes in North America.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pathology & Cell Biology, Columbia University, 650 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032. Phone: (212) 305-5654. Fax: (212) 305-3970. E-mail: jc28{at}columbia.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 25 February 2009.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2009, p. 1418-1423, Vol. 47, No. 5
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.01806-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»