Phylogenetic Variation of Chelonid Alphaherpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) in Populations of Green Turtles Chelonia mydas along the Queensland Coast, Australia

J Aquat Anim Health. 2017 Sep;29(3):150-157. doi: 10.1080/08997659.2017.1330783.

Abstract

Sea turtle fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a disease marked by the proliferation of benign but debilitating cutaneous and occasional visceral tumors, likely to be caused by chelonid alphaherpesvirus 5 (ChHV5). This study presents a phylogeny of ChHV5 strains found on the east coast of Queensland, Australia, and a validation for previously unused primers. Two different primer sets (gB-1534 and gB-813) were designed to target a region including part of the UL27 glycoprotein B (gB) gene and part of UL28 of ChHV5. Sequences obtained from FP tumors found on juvenile green turtles Chelonia mydas (<65 cm curved carapace length) had substantial homology with published ChHV5 sequences, while a skin biopsy from a turtle without FP failed to react in the PCRs used in this study. The resulting sequences were used to generate a neighbor-joining tree from which three clusters of ChHV5 from Australian waters were identified: north Australian, north Queensland, and Queensland clusters. The clusters reflect the collection sites on the east coast of Queensland with a definitive north-south trend. Received October 22, 2016; accepted May 7, 2017.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Australia
  • Herpesviridae / isolation & purification*
  • Herpesviridae Infections / veterinary*
  • Herpesviridae Infections / virology
  • Phylogeny
  • Queensland
  • Skin Neoplasms / virology*
  • Tumor Virus Infections / virology*
  • Turtles / virology*