Isolation and molecular characterization of a virulent Marek’s Disease virus serotype-1from Andhra Pradesh, India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12834/VetIt.2197.13279.1Keywords:
Isolation, Characterization, Virulent Marek’s disease virus, IndiaAbstract
Marek’s disease (MD) is one of the most significant neoplastic diseases of poultry caused by Marek’s disease virus (MDV), an oncogenic avian herpesvirus which is responsible for great economic losses to the poultry industry worldwide. MD is being manifested as an acute disease with lymphomas in multiple visceral organs. In the present study, an outbreak of MD was investigated in one of the poultry farms from Andhra Pradesh, India. The gross lesions in the affected birds included lymphomas in different visceral organs like liver, spleen, proventriculus, heart and ovaries. Histopathology revealed presence of uniform lymphoblastoid cell infiltration typical of MD. The isolation of the virus was carried out in duck embryo fibroblast cells. After three blind passages, the cell cultures revealed plaque formation typical of MDV. Further confirmation of the virus was carried out by PCR targeting 132 bp repeats of serotype‑1 MDV and the oncogenes Meq and vIL‑8 were amplified and sequenced. The nucleotide and phylogenetic analysis of the virus confirmed the virus as virulent serotype‑ 1 MDV. The present outbreak suggests the need for change in the vaccination regimen of MD vaccination with appropriate serotype‑ 1 MD vaccines in Indian poultry flocks as the HVT and bivalent vaccines are unable to protect the flocks against virulent MDV.
References
Biggs P. M. & Nair V. 2012. The long view: 40 years of Marek’s Disease Research and Avian Pathology. Avian Pathol, 41, 3-9.
Doosti A. & Golshan M. 2011. Molecular study for detection of Marek´s disease virus (MDV) in southwest of Iran. Sci Res Essays, 6(12), 2560-2563.
Dunn J.R. & Gimeno I.M. 2013. Current Status of Marek’s Disease in the United States and Worldwide Based on a Questionnaire Survey. Avian Dis, 57, 483-490.
Gong Z., Zhang L., Wang J., Chen L., Shan H., Wang Z. & Ma H. 2013. Isolation and analysis of a very virulent Marek’s disease virus strain in China. Virol J, 10, 115.
Gopal S., Manoharan P., Kathaperumal K., Chidambaram B. & Divya K. C. 2012. Differential detection of avian oncogenic viruses in poultry layer farms and turkeys by use of multiplex PCR. J Clin Microbiol, 50, 2668-2673.
Kumar P., Dong H., Lenihan D., Gaddamanugu S., Katneni U., Shaikh S., Hotz P.T., Reddy S. M., Peters W. & Parcells M. S. 2012. Selection of a Recombinant Marek’s Disease Virus In Vivo Through Expression of the Marek’s EcoRI-Q (Meq) – Encoded Oncoprotein: Characterization of an rMd5-Based Mutant Expressing the Meq of Strain RB-1B. Avian Dis, 56, 328-340.
Okwor E.C. & Eze D.C. 2011. Outbreak and Persistence of Marek’s Disease in Batches of Birds Reared in a Poultry Farm Located in Nsukka, South East Nigeria. Int J Poult Sci, 10(8), 617-620.
Prathiba Y., Sreedevi B., Vinod Kumar N. & Srilatha Ch. 2018. Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of oncogenes from virulent serotype – I Marek’s Disease Virus in India. Acta Virol, 62, 277-286.
Sathish G., Divya K.C., Parthiban M. & Aruni A.W. 2014. In silico analysis show incidence of very virulent Marek’s Disease Virus (MDV). Int J Comput Bioinfo In Silico Model, 3(3), 374-380.
Silva R. F., Reddy S. M. & Lupiani B. 2004. Expansion of a unique region in the Marek's disease virus genome occurs concomitantly with attenuation but is not sufficient to cause attenuation. J Virol, 78 (2), 733-740.
Singh S.D., Barathidasan R., Kumar A., Deb R., Verma K. & Dhama K. 2012. Recent Trends in Diagnosis and Control of Marek’s Disease (MD) in Poultry. Pak J Biol Sci, 15, 964-970.
Sudhakar S. & Nair A. J. 2013. Marek’s disease: The never ending challenge- A review. Int J Pharm Bio Sci, 4(2), 6-11.
Suresh P., Dorairajan N., Balachandran C. & Manohar B.M. 2013. Incidence of Marek's disease in Namakkal, Tamil Nadu. Cheiron, 19(3), 143-144.
Tian M., Zhao Y., Lin Y., Zou N., Liu C., Liu P., Cao S., Wen X. & Huang Y. 2011. Comparative analysis of oncogenic genes revealed unique evolutionary features of field Marek’s disease virus prevalent in recent years in China. J Virol, 8, 121-131.
Witter R. L., Calnek B.W., Buscaglia G., Gimeno I.M. & Schat K. A. 2005. Classification of Marek’s disease viruses according to pathotype: Phylosophy and Methodology. Avian Pathol, 34 (2), 75-90.
World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). 2010. Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals. Paris, OIE.
Zhang D., Dai Y., Zhao R., Hu X., Hou H., Pan X. & Zhou X. 2013. Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of Meq gene of Marek’s disease virus. Int J Food Agricul Environ, 11 (3-4), 1005-1008.
