Authors
Zhonglin Huang, Xu Wang, Hongfeng Ren, Pei Li, Yang Wang, Yafan Zhao, Jinchi Guo, Yingjie Chen, Pengran Wang, Xiaoran Li, Yanna Guo, Jianhui Li, Libin Liang, Junping Li
Published in
Poultry science. Volume 105. Issue 6. Pages 106747. Epub Mar 08, 2026.
Abstract
Avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), a major pathogen in the poultry industry, evolves rapidly via genetic mutations and recombination. While recombination between field and live vaccine strains is well-documented, its direct role in viral virulence remains unclear. In this study, four novel IBV field strains (SX/2407, SX/2408, SX/2409, SX/2410) were isolated from a single layer farm in Shanxi Province, China, and genetically characterized. Comprehensive genomic analysis revealed that SX/2409 is a natural recombinant, with SX/2408 (co-isolated) as the major parent and a 4/91-like vaccine lineage as the minor parent. To assess the functional impact of this recombination, pathogenicity was compared in chicks. Notably, SX/2409 exhibited markedly enhanced virulence, with a significantly higher mortality rate (60%) than its major parent SX/2408 (20%). The other isolates, SX/2407 and SX/2410, caused 50% and 0% mortality, respectively. Our findings provide compelling field evidence that recombination with a live vaccine strain can directly drives the evolution of a more virulent IBV phenotype. These results highlight the potential evolutionary risks of current vaccination strategies and emphasize the critical need for robust molecular surveillance and development of safer next-generation vaccines.
PMID:
41916055
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 10 Sep 2026.
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