Human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) is divided into genotypes A-H based on genetic recombination including the spike (S) gene. To investigate the longitudinal transition of phylogenetic feature of HCoV-OC43 S gene in a community, phylogenetic analysis of the S1 region of S gene was conducted using 208 strains detected in Yamagata during 2010-2017 with reference strains of genotype. The S1 sequences were divisible into four groups: A-D. All Yamagata strains belonged to either group B or group D. In group B, 46 (90.2%) out of 51 Yamagata strains were clustered with those of genotype E reference strains (cluster E). In group D, 28 (17.8%) and 122 (77.7%) out of 157 Yamagata strains were clustered respectively with genotype F and genotype G reference strains. In cluster G, 28 strains formed a distinct cluster. Monthly distributions of HCoV-OC43 in Yamagata in 2010-2017 revealed that group B and group D appeared one after another. In group B, the cluster E strains were prevalent recurrently. In conclusion, epidemics of HCoV-OC43 in Yamagata, Japan might be attributable to two genetically different groups: group B showed recurrent epidemic of strains belonging to single phylogenetic cluster and group D showed epidemic strains belonging to multiple clusters. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
About The Expert
Kenichi Komabayashi
Yohei Matoba
Shizuka Tanaka
Junji Seto
Yoko Aoki
Tatsuya Ikeda
Yoshitaka Shimotai
Yoko Matsuzaki
Tsutomu Itagaki
Katsumi Mizuta
References
PubMed