Classification of adenoviral conjunctivitis based on sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of hexon and fiber

Objective

To classify human adenovirus (HAdV) of adenoviral conjunctivitis by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of hexon protein and fiber protein.

Methods

A total of 256 conjunctival swabs were collected from the inferior conjunctival sac of 256 patients with viral conjunctivitis in Shanghai from January 2015 to August 2017.After DNA extraction, the whole length of hexon and fiber was amplified by PCR to perform gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis.The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shanghai General Hospital (No.2020-202).Written informed consent was obtained from each subject.

Results

Among the samples, 89(34.76%) were positive for hexon gene amplification, including 1(1.12%) of HAdV-C1, 7(7.87%) of HAdV-C2, 20(22.47%) of HAdV-B3, 6(6.747%) of HAdV-E4, 23(25.84%) of HAdV-D8, 17(19.10%) of HAdV-D19, and 15(16.85%) of HAdV-D37.In phylogenetic analysis, sequenced hexon gene was clustered with the reference prototype correctly.In fiber phylogenetic analysis, 15 of HAdV-D19 and 1 of HAdV-D37 were cross clustered.

Conclusions

The combined sequencing of hexon and fiber can provide abundant and effective biological information for the subtype and pathogenicity analysis of HAdV.

Adenoviruses, human; Conjunctivitis, viral; Hexon protein, adenovirus; Fiber protein; Sequence analysis; Phylogeny