Scientists investigate a virus found in turbots

A team of scientists has isolated a virus from a diseased turbot in China and investigated the complete genome sequence.

Using analytical chemistry methods and genome electrophoresis, Fei Ke, Li-Bo He, Chao Pei and Qi-Ya Zhang sought to determine the complete sequence of any aquareovirus from marine fish, specifically the Scophthalmus maximus reovirus, as this has never been done before.

The study, which was published in BMC Genomics 2011, found that members in aquareovirus were clustered in two groups, one from freshwater fish and the other from marine fish.

They found that the major outer capsid protein VP7 could be used as a reference to divide the aquareovirus from hosts in freshwater or marine environments.

Furthermore, amino acids comparison and phylogenetic analysis found that Scophthalmus maximus reovirus is a relatively new virus to the species group.

In addition, the team highlighted a fusion associated small transmembrane (FAST) protein NS22, which caused the virus to have a degenerative effect on the cells of its turbot host.