Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Feline Herpesvirus 1 from Naturally Infected Korean Cats

ABSTRACT

Feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1) causes respiratory and ocular disease in cats.Although isolates of FHV-1 circulating in cats have been reported worldwide, Korean FHV-1 isolates and their features have not been reported thus far. We aimed to investigate the biological and molecular characterization of two FHV-1 isolates based on the nucleotide sequence of thymidine kinase (TK) and glycoprotein B (gB) gene. In total, 48 samples from 12 cats were prepared for virus isolation.For the diagnosis, virus isolation, indirect fluorescence assay (IFA), electron microscopy (EM), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and for the molecular characterization, cloning and sequencing were used. Based on many methods such as virus isolation with specific cytopathic effects, IFA, EM, and PCR, two isolates were confirmed as FHV-1 and they showed the highest viral titer (108.3 to 108.5 TCID50 /mL) in the Crandell–Rees Feline Kidney cells at 48 h after inoculation, but did not grow in MDCK and Vero cells. The nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the full TK and gB gene of FHV191071 and FHV191072 isolates were determined and compared with those of other herpesvirus strains. Two isolates possessed the same nucleotide sequences belonging to FHV-1 group and had the highest similarity (99.9%) with the KANS-02 strain, which was isolated from shelter in USA in 2016. Two isolates were confirmed as FHV-1 and they will be a useful basic resource for evaluating current FHV-1 vaccine and developing diagnostic tools.