ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Virology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1658326
The identification and genetic characteristics of Orf virus strain (ORFV-CL24) isolated from Jilin province, China
Provisionally accepted
- Jilin University, Changchun, China
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Orf virus (ORFV), the prototype species of the Parapoxvirus genus within the Poxviridae family (subfamily Chordopoxvirinae), is a global pathogen infecting sheep, goats, and other ruminants, with zoonotic potential for humans. In this study, an outbreak of ORFV infection occurred in a sheep flock in Changling County, Jilin Province, China, causing papules, pustules, and crusting lesions on lips and eyelids. Typical parapoxvirus particles were observed using electron microscopy, and a wild ORFV strain was isolated, characterized, and designated as ORFV-CL24. To clarify the epidemiological and genomic characteristics of ORFV in the region, we completed its whole-genome sequencing (GenBank accession number: PV126639). Genome analysis revealed that ORFV-CL24 shares a conserved structure with other isolates available in GenBank, which possessed a complete genomic sequence of 138500 bp of dsDNA harboring 131 putative open reading frames (ORFs) flanked by inverted terminal repeat (ITR) regions of 3264 bp at both termini. Additionally, the genome exhibited high GC-content (63.3%), indicating its key role in DNA stability. Phylogenetic analysis placed the wild strain in a subclade with the attenuated ORFV strain D1701, implying a putative common ancestor or epidemiological linkages. Further analysis of B2L (ORFV 011) and E3L (ORFV 020) genes further revealed genetic diversity and evolutionary patterns. Notably, despite phylogenetic relatedness, specific mutations in ORF020 further distinguished ORFV-CL24 from D1701, reflecting stepwise mutation accumulation during host adaptation. In conclusion, our results provided valuable genetic insights into ORFV-CL24, which contributed to a better understanding of its evolution, biological properties and endemic trends in China.
Keywords: ORFV, complete genome, Genetic characteristics, phylogenetic analysis, genetic evolution
Received: 02 Jul 2025; Accepted: 08 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, Lv, Gao, Guan, Sun, Zhang, Li, Lan, Gao and He. 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: Kui Zhao, Jilin University, Changchun, China
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