Molecular characterization of bluetongue virus serotype 2

Abstract

Bluetongue is an economically major infectious, arthropod vector borne, viral disease of many free ranging and captive wild animals as well as of domestic animals. There are many serotypes circulating in the world. The current study was undertaken having an objective to characterize the BTV 2(M11) isolate that engaged for the vaccine trial. BHK21 cell lines were utilized for cultivation of BTV serotype 2 and followed by its RNA was extracted. Further, Reverse Transcriptase-PCR was standardized for detection of BTV serotype 2by targeting segment 7 (VP7) gene. Characterization of isolate at molecular level was conducted by the sequencing of VP7 gene. By using the available sequences in Genbank database, the sequences were compared. Further analysis denoted that, all sequences of VP7 nucleotide was sequestered into seven phylogenetic clades. The homogeneity of BTV-2 (M11) with Australian and Chinese isolates of BTV-15 and BTV Taiwan isolate was 75%, 66%, and 74% respectively. Further analysis signified that, BTV-2 (M11) was nearly compared to BTV-12 Brazil and BTVTPT.