RNA virome analysis of diarrheic piglet feces in India identified the first Type I recombinant enterovirus G1 strain carrying a torovirus papain-like cysteine protease gene.
Observational
This study reports the first detection of a Type I recombinant enterovirus G carrying a torovirus papain-like cysteine protease gene in India.
Enterovirus G (EV-G) comprises 20 genotypes (G1-G20) associated with various disease conditions in pig populations. Recombination among homologous EV-G drives virus evolution; however, recombination with a virus from a heterologous family is a rare event. Currently, two types of recombinant EV-G strains containing torovirus papain-like cysteine protease (PLCP) at the 2C-3A junction (Type I) and in place of structural proteins (Type II) are reported. The present study was conducted to reveal the RNA virome in diarrheic piglet feces, retrieving the genome coding for a complete polyprotein of EV-G1. The detected EV-G1 strain represents the first Type I recombinant from India. The polyprotein of the strain exhibiting 97% amino acid identity was closely related to the Chinese strain. The molecular clock analysis estimated that EV-G1-PLCP likely emerged around 1989 in Japan (95% HPD), the inferred substitution rate in study strain was a mean evolutionary rate of 1.23 × 10⁻
Sawant et al. (2026) conducted an observational in Enterovirus G infection in pigs. RNA virome analysis of diarrheic piglet feces in India identified the first Type I recombinant enterovirus G1 strain carrying a torovirus papain-like cysteine protease gene.