Rabbit colony infected with a bovine-like G6P[11] rotavirus strain

Group A rotaviruses (RVAs) are the main etiological agent of infantile diarrhea in both humans and animals worldwide. A limited number of studies have investigated the molecular characteristics of RVA strains in stool specimens of rabbits, with only a few lapine RVA strains isolated and (partially) characterized to date. The most common G/P-genotype combinations found in rabbits are G3P[14] and G3P[22]. In this study a RVA strain was isolated from the small intestine of a 9-week-old rabbit from an infected laboratory rabbit colony. The RVA strain RVA/Rabbit-tc/NLD/K1130027/2011/G6P[11] was shown to possess the typical bovine G6 and P[11] genotypes. The complete genome of this unusual lapine strain was sequenced and characterized. Phylogenetic analyses of all 11 gene segments revealed the following genotype constellation: G6-P[11]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A13-N2-T6-E2-H3. The VP1, VP2, VP3, VP6, NSP2 and NSP4 genes all belonged to DS-1-like genotype 2, but clustered more closely to bovine RVA strains than to lapine RVA strains. The NSP1 genotype A13 is typically associated with bovine RVAs, while the NSP3 genotype T6 and the NSP5 genotype H3 have been found in a wide variety of species. However, the isolated strain clustered within bovine(-like) T6 and H3 subclusters. Overall, the data indicate that the RVA strain is most closely related to bovine-like RVA strains and most likely represents a direct interspecies transmission from a cow to a rabbit. Altogether, these findings indicate that a RVA strain with an entirely bovine genome constellation was able to infect and spread in a laboratory rabbit colony.