GENETIC DIVERSITY AND PHYLOGENETIC CLASSIFICATION OF VIRAL HEMORRHAGIC SEPTICEMIA VIRUS (VHSV)

The present study was undertaken to determine the genetic diversity of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) and to gain insight into th e molecular epidemiology of this fish rhabdovirus. The sequences of th e nonstructural (NV) protein and the transmembrane (G) protein of sequ ential North American and European isolates of VHSV were determined an d used to compute phylogenetic trees. According to the percentage of n ucleotide or amino acid similarities, North American and European isol ates formed 2 clearly distant genetic groups. While North American iso lates clustered into a highly homogeneous genetic group, European isol ates exhibited a higher genetic variability. Subgrouping based on this variability could be correlated with both the geographic origin and t he serological classification.