Genomic and evolutionary characterization of a novel influenza-C-like virus from swine.

Abstract

We recently described the isolation of a novel influenza virus from swine exhibiting respiratory disease in the United States that is distantly related to human influenza C virus. Based on genetic, biochemical and morphological analysis, the virus was provisionally classified as C/swine/Oklahoma/1334/2011 (C/OK). To further understand the genetics and evolution of this novel pathogen, we performed a comprehensive analysis of its sequence and phylogeny. The results demonstrated that C/OK and human influenza C viruses share a conserved array of predicted functional domains in the viral RNA genome replication and viral entry machinery but vary at key functional sites. Furthermore, our evolutionary analysis showed that homologous genes of C/OK and human influenza C viruses diverged from each other an estimated several hundred to several thousand years ago. Taken together, the findings described in this study support and extend our previous observations that C/OK is a genetically and evolutionarily distinct influenza virus in the family Orthomyxoviridae.