ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Molecular Viral Pathogenesis
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1699507
Isolation and characterization of an enterovirus G strain causing diarrhea and gut microbiota dysbiosis in Piglets
Provisionally accepted
- Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, China
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Enterovirus G (EV-G) is an important etiological agent of diarrhea in piglets, presenting substantial challenges for differential diagnosis and hindering effective prevention and control of porcine diarrheal diseases. In this study, we isolated a recombinant G1 genotype EV-G strain, EVG-SH-2024, in MA-104 cells. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that EVG-SH-2024 shared the highest amino acid (aa) identity (94.7%) with the strain 13-03212/United States/2014 (KF985175). Recombination analysis indicated that EVG-SH-2024 arose from genetic exchange between KF985175 and MN734577, with recombination breakpoints at positions 1318 aa and 3830 aa. Experimental oral inoculation of 5-day-old piglets with EVG-SH-2024 induced mild diarrhea and persistent viral shedding, accompanied by marked histopathological alterations in multiple tissues. The lesions included neuronal vacuolar degeneration in the brain, pulmonary consolidation in the lungs, and inflammatory cell infiltration in the intestines. These findings underscore the pathogenic potential and genetic complexity of EV-G, highlighting the need for enhanced surveillance and targeted control strategies for this emerging swine pathogen. High-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing was employed to profile the gut microbiota of piglets before and after infection. EVG-SH-2024 challenge caused pronounced gut dysbiosis, characterized by an increased abundance of pathogenic taxa and depletion of beneficial microorganisms. Notably, the top 10 differentially abundant species predominantly comprised short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria, implicating SCFA depletion as a key factor in diarrheal pathogenesis. Collectively, these results elucidate the genomic complexity and pathogenicity of EV-G and provide insights into microbiota-targeted intervention strategies.
Keywords: EV-G, Genetic evolution analysis, recombination, pathogenicity, Gut Microbiota
Received: 05 Sep 2025; Accepted: 22 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Tao, Li, Shi, Tang, Li, Lv, Liu and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Huili Liu, liuhuili@saas.sh.cn
Huili Liu, liuhuili@saas.sh.cn
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