Australian strains of the avian coronavirus infectious bronchitis virus predominantly target the respiratory tract rather than the kidneys in specific-pathogen-free chickens.

ABSTRACT: Coronaviruses evolve rapidly, with recombination and mutation fostering the emergence of variant strains. The avian coronavirus infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is an important poultry pathogen and a valuable natural model for studying coronaviruses. Australian strains have evolved independently of those infecting chickens elsewhere in the world, so understanding the biology and evolution of these strains can further our understanding of factors driving the emergence of novel coronaviruses. We infected groups of specific pathogen-free Leghorn chickens with six Australian IBVs (from five distinct genotypes) isolated between 1962 and 2013. All six affected the respiratory tract, but only one was nephropathogenic (N1/62). All six induced significant lesions and actively replicated in the upp

SUBMITTER: Quinteros JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12829727 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature