Characterization of a Novel Hepadnavirus in the White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii) from the Great Lakes Region of the United States.

ABSTRACT:

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The white sucker Catostomus commersonii is a freshwater teleost often utilized as a resident sentinel. Here, we sequenced the full genome of a hepatitis B-like virus that infects white suckers from the Great Lakes Region of the United States. Dideoxy sequencing confirmed that the white sucker hepatitis B virus (WSHBV) has a circular genome (3,542 bp) with the prototypical codon organization of hepadnaviruses. Electron microscopy demonstrated that complete virions of approximately 40 nm were present in the plasma of infected fish. Compared to avi- and orthohepadnaviruses, sequence conservation of the core, polymerase, and surface proteins was low and ranged from 16 to 27% at the amino acid level. An X protein homologue common to the orthohepadnaviruses was not present. Th

SUBMITTER: Hahn CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4645335 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature