Detection and vp6 gene based molecular characterization of rotaviruses of pigs in Kerala*

Abstract

Rotaviral enteritis is a common condition observed in farm animals especially piglets and calves. Though the presence of porcine rotaviruses (PRV) have been reported in pigs in Kerala, no study has been conducted to characterize them. This paper reports the finding of a study conducted to detect and characterize PRV based on VP6 gene. A total of 87 samples collected from cases of piglet diarrhoea were subjected to VP6 gene based reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and five (5.74 per cent) was found to be positive. All the positive samples were from Palakkad district. On analysis of the nucleotide sequence it was observed that the viruses belonged to inner capsid type I5 and I14 indicating diversity in the PRV prevalent in Kerala.

Keywords

• rotavirus
• pigs
• reverse tran-scriptase polymerase chain reaction
• vp6 gene