Complete genomic sequence of the coronavirus transmissible gastroenteritis virus SHXB isolated in China.

A strain of transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), SHXB, was isolated in Shanghai, China. The complete genome of strain SHXB was sequenced, and its sequence was compared those of other TGEV strains in the GenBank database. The comparison showed that there were no insertions or deletions in the 5' and 3'- non-translated regions, in the nonstructural genes ORF1, ORF3, and ORF7, or in the genes encoding the structural proteins envelope (E), membrane (M) and nucleoprotein (N). A phenomenon in common with other strains was that nucleotide (nt) 655 of the spike (S) gene was G, and a common change in nt 1753 of the S gene was a T-to-G mutation that caused a serine-to-alanine mutation at amino acid 585, which is in the region of the main major antigenic sites A and B of the TGEV S protein. A 6-nt deletion was also found at nt 1123-1128 in all Purdue strains except the strain Virulent Purdue. Phylogenetic analysis showed that TGEV SHXB was closely related to the Purdue strains and shared a common ancestor with the Miller strains as well as strain PRCV-ISU-1.

Transcription analysis of the porcine alveolar macrophage response to Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae.

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is considered the major causative agent of porcine respiratory disease complex, occurs worldwide and causes major economic losses to the pig industry. To gain more insights into the pathogenesis of this organism, the high throughput cDNA microarray assays were employed to evaluate host responses of porcine alveolar macrophages to M. hyopneumoniae infection. A total of 1033 and 1235 differentially expressed genes were identified in porcine alveolar macrophages in responses to exposure to M. hyopneumoniae at 6 and 15 hours post infection, respectively. The differentially expressed genes were involved in many vital functional classes, including inflammatory response, immune response, apoptosis, cell adhesion, defense response, signal transduction, protein folding, protein ubiquitination and so on. The pathway analysis demonstrated that the most significant pathways were the chemokine signaling pathway, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, RIG-I-like receptor signaling pathway, nucleotide-binding oligomerization domains (Nod)-like receptor signaling pathway and apoptosis signaling pathway. The reliability of the data obtained from the microarray was verified by performing quantitative real-time PCR. The expression kinetics of chemokines was further analyzed. The present study is the first to document the response of porcine alveolar macrophages to M. hyopneumoniae infection. The data further developed our understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of M. hyopneumoniae.