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J Gen Virol 87 (2006), 3349-3353; DOI 10.1099/vir.0.82065-0

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© 2006 Society for General Microbiology

Short Communication

Inter- and intra-variant genetic heterogeneity of human coronavirus OC43 strains in France

Astrid Vabret1, Julia Dina1, Thomas Mourez1, Stéphanie Gouarin1, Joëlle Petitjean1, Sylvie van der Werf2 and François Freymuth1

1 Laboratory of Virology, University Hospital of Caen, Avenue Georges Clemenceau, 14033 Caen cedex, France
2 Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire des Virus Respiratoires, Institut Pasteur, 25–28 rue du Docteur Roux, 75015 Paris, France

Correspondence
Astrid Vabret
vabret-a{at}chu-caen.fr

Human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) causes acute, self-limited respiratory infections. A close relationship between bovine coronaviruses (BCoVs) and HCoV-OC43 has recently been demonstrated. This study includes seven clinical, non-cell culture-adapted, contemporary HCoV-OC43 strains detected in France in 2003. By using RT-PCR and clonal sequencing of the S1 gene of HCoV-OC43, the inter-variant heterogeneity of the HCoV-OC43 circulating strains was studied and the intra-variant diversity was assessed by investigation of a quasispecies cloud. This paper brings to the forefront a high genetic diversity of circulating HCoV-OC43 variants. Genetically different groups are defined among the variants described in this study. One of these variants holds characteristics of an outlier and presents a deletion of 12 nt, also found in BCoV strains. Moreover, the presence of HCoV-OC43 as a quasispecies cloud in vivo during an acute respiratory-tract illness was discovered. It has also been revealed that quasispecies-cloud sizes are similar for the two viral populations tested.

The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper are DQ355400–DQ355408.






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Copyright © 2006 by the Society for General Microbiology.