Isolation and Characterization of Contemporary Bovine Coronavirus Strains
Yu Li,
Roberto A. Palomares,
Mingde Liu,
Jiayu Xu,
Chohee Koo,
Francesca Granberry,
Samantha R. Locke,
Greg Habing,
Linda J. Saif,
Leyi Wang,
Qiuhong Wang
Affiliations
Yu Li
Center for Food Animal Health, Department of Animal Sciences, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691, USA
Roberto A. Palomares
Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, 2200 College Station Rd., Athens, GA 30602, USA
Mingde Liu
Center for Food Animal Health, Department of Animal Sciences, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691, USA
Jiayu Xu
Center for Food Animal Health, Department of Animal Sciences, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691, USA
Chohee Koo
Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, 2200 College Station Rd., Athens, GA 30602, USA
Francesca Granberry
Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, 2200 College Station Rd., Athens, GA 30602, USA
Samantha R. Locke
Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Greg Habing
Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Linda J. Saif
Center for Food Animal Health, Department of Animal Sciences, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691, USA
Leyi Wang
Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61802, USA
Qiuhong Wang
Center for Food Animal Health, Department of Animal Sciences, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691, USA
Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) poses a threat to cattle health worldwide, contributing to both respiratory and enteric diseases. However, few contemporary strains have been isolated. In this study, 71 samples (10 nasal and 61 fecal) were collected from one farm in Ohio in 2021 and three farms in Georgia in 2023. They were screened by BCoV-specific real-time reverse transcription-PCR, and 15 BCoV-positive samples were identified. Among them, five BCoV strains from fecal samples were isolated using human rectal tumor-18 (HRT-18) cells. The genomic sequences of five strains were obtained. The phylogenetic analysis illustrated that these new strains clustered with US BCoVs that have been detected since the 1990s. Sequence analyses of the spike proteins of four pairs of BCoVs, with each pair originally collected from the respiratory and enteric sites of one animal, revealed the potential amino acid residue patterns, such as D1180 for all four enteric BCoVs and G1180 for three of four respiratory BCoVs. This project provides new BCoV isolates and sequences and underscores the genetic diversity of BcoVs, the unknown mechanisms of disease types, and the necessity of sustained surveillance and research for BCoVs.