Lack of cosegregation of the subgroup II antigens on genes 2 and 6 in porcine rotaviruses

Abstract

The rotavirus subgroup I and II specificities associated with gene 2 and 6 products (vp2 and vp6, respectively) were shown not to cosegregate in a number of porcine rotavirus strains. The porcine OSU rotavirus strain and OSU-vp7-like strains were all found to possess a subgroup II-specific region on vp2 and a subgroup I-specific region on vp6. Of interest is the observation that the subgroup II-specific epitope on vp2 appears to be present only in human and porcine rotavirus strains, suggesting a possible human-pig ancestral lineage for gene 2.