In Silico Studies on Development of Novel Virostatic Agents against Bluetongue Virus

The core of BTV is organized into three concentric structures of which VP7 protein forms the major core protein. The subcore consists of VP3 protein and the innermost part of the core is made of three minor proteins: VP1, VP4, and VP6. Earlier it was reported that core-like particles (CLPs) composed of viral VP7 and VP3 proteins were produced in order to study role of VP7 protein in intermolecular interactions in the BTV assembly process. Site specific mutational studies revealed that substitution of the single lysine residue of VP7 (Lys-255) by leucine abrogated CLP formation, indicating a critical role for this lysine. In the present study, homology modeling, mutagenesis, and docking studies were carried out in order to design potent leads in modulation of VP7 protein in abrogating CLP formation.

Molecular Characteristics of Rotavirus Isolated from a Diarrhea Outbreak in October 2008 in Bintuni Bay, Papua, Indonesia

Background Viral diarrhea continues to be a health problem in Indonesia that often causes outbreaks; in particular, acute viral diarrhea in young children. Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe diarrhea in children under two years of age. This study aimed to determine the genotypes of rotavirus in Bintuni Bay, Papua. Methods Stool specimens from 15 patients were collected and analyzed for rotavirus using an enzyme immunosorbent assay (EIA) and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Subsequently, we sequenced the genetic material of rotavirus positive samples by RT-PCR and analyzed the results using Mega-4 software. Results Two rotavirus serotypes were identified from the diarrhea outbreak in Bintuni, Papua in October 2008: serotype G1 with G1P[6] (50%) and G1P[8] (16.7%) strains, and serotype G2 with G2P[4] (23.3%) strain. Phylogenetic tree analyses of VP7 protein showed that rotavirus-infected diarrhea in Bintuni Bay, Papua at that time was dominated by the G1 serotype (83%). Conclusion The laboratory results showed that G1 serotype rotavirus was a cause of the outbreak of diarrhea in October 2008 in Bintuni, Papua.

A serologicalsurveillance of bluetongue disease in sheep and goats in Iraq by using acompetitive ELISA Technique

In this study, a sero-survillance on ovine and caprine serum samples from all over Iraqexcept the governorates of Iraqi Kurdistan region was conducted. It aimed for the detection ofspecific antibodies directed against VP7 protein - the sero-group specific antigen of bluetongue virus – by using a competitive ELISA technique.The results showed that among a totalof 3277 serum samples, 1436 samples were found to be positive forming 43.82% of totalsamples, while 1687 samples were negative with 51.48 % and 154 sample were suspiciousforming 4.69 %. The highest positive serum samples were found in Al Basrah Province(southern of Iraq) with 60.41% and in Al Anbar Province (Western of Iraq) with 61%, whilethe lowest of positive samples were found in Nineva (Northern of Iraq) with 22.35%.The results also showed a closely ratio between positive percentage of goats and sheepsamples with the positive goats serum samples ( in five provinces ) were 45 of 114 samplesrepresenting 39.47 %,while the positive sheep serum samples ( in fifteen provinces) were1391 of 3163 samples representing43.97%. Our study is complementary to the previousworks held in this field and it represents the first field serological survey for bluetongueinsheep and goats in Iraq.