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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.

Sec. Veterinary Infectious Diseases

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1654230

Isolation and pathogenicity of a variant porcine epidemic diarrhea virus field strain with high adaptability to Vero cell

Provisionally accepted
Tianjing LiaoTianjing Liao1Yi ZhangYi Zhang1Huanhuan MaHuanhuan Ma1Zhanchang WangZhanchang Wang2Ao ZhouAo Zhou1Yu ZhangYu Zhang1Zhengfan ZhangZhengfan Zhang1Shuangshuang GuoShuangshuang Guo1Yongqing HouYongqing Hou1Zhonghua LiZhonghua Li1*Tao WuTao Wu1*
  • 1Hubei Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan, China
  • 2Forestry and Fruit Tree Research Institute, Wuhan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan, China

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Since 2010, new outbreaks of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) caused by porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) variant strains have brought significant economic losses to world pig industry. In this study, we isolated a PEDV strain from a new PED outbreak farm in 2024. The strain was identified through RT-PCR, indirect immunofluorescence assay and purified through plaque assay. This virus showed high adaptability to Vero cell during the process of passage and named as HB-2024.Phylogenetic analysis of the S gene showed that the HB-2024 strain was clustered into G2b subgroup. Amino sequence analysis showed that the S protein of the HB-2024 strain had a unique character beside the N terminal of the fusion peptide, which might lead to its high adaptability to Vero cell. We also performed a piglet infection challenge experiment to test its in vivo pathogenicity. All piglets infected with this virus showed obvious diarrhea and their small intestines showed serious pathological damage. These results suggest that HB-2024 strain is a G2b subtype variant that adapts well to Vero cell and can be used to study the adaptive mechanisms of PEDV.

Keywords: Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, G2b subtype, Isolation, Adaptability, pathogenicity

Received: 26 Jun 2025; Accepted: 30 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Liao, Zhang, Ma, Wang, Zhou, Zhang, Zhang, Guo, Hou, Li and Wu. 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:
Zhonghua Li, Hubei Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan, China
Tao Wu, Hubei Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan, China

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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