First complete genome sequence of parainfluenza virus 5 isolated from lesser panda

Abstract

Parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5) is widespread in mammals and humans. Up to now, there is little information about PIV5 infection in lesser pandas. In this study, a PIV5 variant (named ZJQ-221) was isolated from a lesser panda with respiratory disease in Guangzhou zoo in Guangdong province, southern China. The full-length genome of ZJQ-221 was found to be 15,246 nucleotides and consisted of seven non-overlapping genes encoding eight proteins (i.e., NP, V, P, M, F, SH, HN and L). Sequence alignment and genetic analysis revealed that ZJQ-221 shared a close relationship with a PIV5 strain of canine-origin (1168-1) from South Korea. The findings of this study confirm the presence of PIV5 in lesser panda and indicate this mammal as a possible natural reservoir. Furthermore they highlight the urgent need to strengthen viral surveillance and control of PIV5 in zoo animals.

Fig. 1

Phylogenetic analysis of ZJQ-221 and other rubulaviruses. A phylogenetic tree based on the complete genome sequences of different rubulavirus species was constructed using the Maximum-likelihood method. ZJQ-221 is displayed using a red solid box. Different rubulavirus species within the Rubulavirus genus are marked using blue solid boxes. The origins of the different viral strains or isolates are indicated with different symbols