Molecular characterisation of Lymphocystis Disease Virus detected from Sea Bream in Turkey

Abstract

Lymphocystis disease is a common, chronic and benign infection of fish. The disease has a worldwide distribution and has been reported from more than 125 marine and freshwater sites. In this study, molecular diagnosis and characterisation of Lymphocystis Disease Virus were performed from samples collected from sea bream fry showing lymphocystis disease symptoms in a farm located in the Aegean Sea. As a result of the phylogenetic analysis, the virus was classified as genotype VII. According to the similarity of nucleotide sequence, SA1.ETun.2011 virus reported from Tunisia was the closest related virus. The rate of amino acid substitution between genotypes was quite high, while amongst the genotype VII isolates substitution rates were low. When the similarity between the genotypes was investigated using the nucleotide sequences, the closest and most distant genotypes to the genotype VII were V and I, respectively.