Analyses of phylogeny and genetic evolution of Capripoxvirus in North and Northwest of China

Abstract

Abstract Capripoxviruses (CaPVs) mainly infect sheep, goats, and cattle, which cause rashes or knots, fever, and systemic papillae in flocks and herds. It is a highly infectious disease of major economic concern to the animal husbandry industry. This disease is widely spread all over the world, including China. In this study, we collected the tissue samples from goats, sheep, and cattle in the Northern and Northwestern of China, where the flocks and herds industries gather. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic tree analysis of GPCR, P32, and RPO30 showed that the two SPPV (Sheep poxvirus), two GTPV (Goat poxvirus), and one LSDV (Lumpy skin disease virus) strains were isolated in our works, respectively. Data of recombination analysis showed that SPPV strains usually has a recombination event in the GPCR gene. Except for GPCR genes, analysis of codon usage bias indicated that greater mutation pressure was found in GTPV and LSDV strains, and other genes were mainly affected by natural selection pressure in the evolutionary process. Selection pressure analysis also showed that SPPV, GTPV, and LSDV strains had a tendency to evolve toward adaptability. Taken together, this study shows how CaPVs have changed over time at the molecular and genetic levels in the North and Northwest of China. It also serves as a reference for future clinical and molecular research on CaPVs.