First Molecular Characterization of Bovine Papular Stomatitis Virus and Meta-Analysis of Parapoxviruses in Turkey

Bovine papular stomatitis virus (BPSV) belongs to the genus Parapoxvirus of the family Poxviridae. Orf virus

(ORFV), Pseudocowpox virus (PCPV), BPSV and Parapoxvirus of red deer in New Zealand (PVNZ) are

also among the members of the genus Parapoxvirus. The BPSV affects ruminants of all age groups as well

as frequently being transmitted to humans as a zoonotic disease. In this study, the BPSV infection affecting

calves was identified and genetically investigated. A meta-analysis of all Parapoxvirus studies in Turkey was

also conducted in this study. Polymerase chain reaction was performed using a set of pan-parapoxvirus primers

for the partial B2L gene of the BPSV, resulted in approximately 590-bp PCR product. A phylogenetic tree

based on partial B2L sequences of parapoxvirus strains was constructed and analyzed and compared with

the GenBank reference sequences. As a result of molecular and phylogenetic analysis, Turkish BPSV strains

are different from the Asian and American BPSV strains at both nucleotide and amino acid levels. Turkish

strains constitute a unique cluster together with European strains. The sequences of the BPSV strains

showed a 95.6-99.6% nucleotide similarity with the GenBank BPSV strains, in addition to an 83.6-84.7 %

similarity with Pseudocowpox virus strains, and an 82.1-83.6% similarity with Orf virus strains. It is found

that geographical differences are of importance for the molecular, epidemiological investigation of BPSV. As

seen in the meta-analysis, bovine papular stomatitis virus of the genus Parapoxvirus has never been studied

at the molecular level in Turkey. Thus, the present study carries out the molecular characterization of the

BPSV for the first time in Turkey