The First Molecular Detection of Two Gyroviruses (Chicken Anemia Virus and Gyrovirus galga 1) from Domestic Cats in Turkey

Abstract

Gyroviruses are one of 31 genera in the family Anelloviridae. The prototype of the gyrovirus genus is Chicken anemia virus (CAV). There are 9 other species in this genus besides CAV. Gyroviruses are small, single- stranded circular DNA viruses. These 10 different Gyroviruses have been detected in chickens, humans, rodents and various domestic animals. In addition to CAV, different types of Gyrovirus have been reported in the feces of domestic cats to date. The main purpose of this study was to detect the presence of CAV and Gyrovirus galga 1 (GyV glg1) in domestic cats with diarrhea using molecular techniques. For this purpose, 91 rectal swab samples were taken from cats with diarrhea of different ages and different genders. Samples were collected from “Sivas Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Animal Hospital” and private veterinary clinics. The following sets of nested primers designed for this study were used, targeting the VP1 gene region of the viral genome for CAV and the VP2 gene region for GyV glg1. According to the PCR results, 32 (35.16%) of 91 cat stool samples were found to be positive for CAV, while 67 (73.63%) were found to be positive for GyV glg1. Amplicons were subjected to gel electrophoresis in 1.5% agarose and visualized by staining with ethidium bromide. Partial sequencing data of the 355 bp VP1 gene for CAV and the 560 bp VP2 gene for GyV glg1 were analyzed. In conclusion, this study shows the presence of CAV and GyV glg1 in cats with diarrhea in Turkey. This is also the first report of CAV and GyV glg1 in cats with diarrhea in Turkey.