Although the molecular surveillance network RotaNet-Italy provides useful nationwide data on rotaviruses causing severe acute gastroenteritis in children in Italy, scarce information is available on rotavirus circulation in the general Italian population, including adults with mild or asymptomatic infection. We investigated the genotypes of rotaviruses present in urban wastewaters and compared ...

Infection by an animal-like strain of rotavirus (PA260/97) was diagnosed in a child with gastroenteritis in Palermo, Italy, in 1997. Sequence analysis of VP7, VP4, VP6, and NSP4 genes showed resemblance to a G3P[3] canine strain identified in Italy in 1996. Dogs are a potential source of human viral pathogens.

Reverse transcription-PCR analysis of drinking water in the homes of 56 children suffering from rotaviral gastroenteritis has shown the presence of the rotavirus genome in four samples. These strains were different from human rotaviruses detected in the children's feces, as determined by sequencing of the VP7-amplified fragments-three of them of animal origin (porcine or bovine) and one of huma...

A total of 603 fecal specimens collected from July 2005 to June 2006 from children with acute gastroenteritis, encompassing five different localities in Japan, were screened for group A rotavirus by reverse transcription-PCR. It was found that 117 fecal specimens (19.4%) were positive for group A rotavirus. Rotavirus infection was detected continuously from November to June, with the highest pr...

Rotaviruses are triple-layered particles that contain four major capsid proteins, VP2, VP4, VP6, and VP7, and two minor proteins, VP1 and VP3. We have cloned each of the rotavirus genes coding for a major capsid protein into the baculovirus expression system and expressed each protein in insect cells. Coexpression of different combinations of the rotavirus major structural proteins resulted in ...

Rice dwarf virus (RDV), a member of the Reoviridae family, is a double-stranded RNA virus. Infection of rice plants with RDV reduces crop production significantly and can pose a major economic threat to Southeast Asia. A 25-A three-dimensional structure of the 700-A-diameter RDV capsid has been determined by 400-kV electron cryomicroscopy and computer reconstruction. The structure revealed two ...

Rotavirus vaccine development has focused on the delivery of live attenuated rotavirus strains by the oral route. The initial "Jennerian" approach involving bovine (RIT4237, WC3) or rhesus (RRV) rotavirus vaccine candidates showed that these vaccines were safe, well tolerated, and immunogenic but induced highly variable rates of protection against rotavirus diarrhea. The goal of a rotavirus vac...

Monoclonal antibodies directed against two rotavirus surface proteins (vp3 and vp7) as well as a rotavirus inner capsid protein (vp6) were tested for their ability to protect suckling mice against virulent rotavirus challenge. Monoclonal antibodies to two distinct epitopes of vp7 of simian rotavirus strain RRV neutralized RRV in vitro and passively protected suckling mice against RRV challenge....

The protective efficacy of recombinant vaccines expressing serotype 8 bluetongue virus (BTV-8) capsid proteins was tested in a mouse model. The recombinant vaccines comprised plasmid DNA or Modified Vaccinia Ankara viruses encoding BTV VP2, VP5 or VP7 proteins. These constructs were administered alone or in combination using either a homologous prime boost vaccination regime (rMVA/rMVA) or a he...

The attenuated Salmonella typhimurium χ4550 strain was used to harbour a reconstructed bicistronic DNA vaccine against porcine rotavirus, which carried the rotavirus nonstructural protein 4 (NSP4) and VP7 genes simultaneously. Using a balanced lethal system, the kanamycin resistance gene of expressing eukaryotic plasmids pVAX1 and pVAXD were replaced by the aspartate β-semialdehyde dehydrogenas...