Title
Cloning and phylogenetic analysis of N protein gene from Rift Valley Fever Virus (RVFV)
Authors
Ahmed Mohamed Hassan1, Arwa Ahmed Zehairy1,2, Awatif Abid Al-Judaibi2, Sayed Sartaj Sohrab1,3,* & Esam Ibraheem Azhar1,3,*
Affiliation
1Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Centre, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; *Corresponding authors
Ahmed Mohamed Hassan – E-mail: hmsahmed@kau.edu.sa
Arwa A. Zehairy – E-mail: aazehairy@uj.edu.sa
Awatif Abid Al-Judaibi – E-mail: aaaljudaibi@uj.edu.sa
Sayed Sartaj Sohrab – E-mail: ssohrab@kau.edu.sa
Esam I Azhar – E-mail: eazhar@kau.edu.sa
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received February 1, 2024; Revised February 29, 2024; Accepted February 29, 2024, Published February 29, 2024
Abstract
Rift Valley Fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne viral zoonosis caused by RVFV in humans and livestock. Currently, there are no approved vaccines or antiviral therapies available. Additionally, in Saudi Arabia, there is a lack of a routine screening system to monitor RVFV in humans and animals which hinders to design and develop the preventive measures as well as the prediction of future outbreaks and the potential re-emergence of RVFV. Hence, we have performed the cloning, sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis, of nucleocapsid (N) protein gene. The sequence analysis showed high similarities with RVFV isolates reported from humans and animals. The highest similarity (99.5%) was observed with an isolate from Saudi Arabia (KU978775-Human) followed by 99.1% with four RVFV isolates (Human and Bovine) from other locations. A total of 51 nucleotides and 31 amino acid variations were observed throughout the N protein gene sequences. The phylogenetic relationship formed closed clusters with other isolates collected from Saudi Arabia. Thus, we report of the cloning, sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis of the RVFV-N protein gene from Saudi Arabia.
Keywords
Rift Valley fever virus; RVFV; nucleocapsid (N) protein; cloning; sequencing; phylogenetic analysis.
Citation
Hassan et al. Bioinformation 20(2): 91-102 (2024)
Edited by
P Kangueane
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.