Hepatitis E virus genotyping based on full-length genome and partial genomic regions

Some genomic regions for hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotyping have been reported to correlate well with the results from the phylogenetic analyses on the basis of the complete genome. However, few studies have systemically investigated the genomic regions for HEV genotyping using a combined phylogenetic and statistical approach. A consensus region for HEV genotyping has not been determined. In this study the nucleotide identities and genetic distances of 24 partial genomic regions and the complete genome sequences of 37 HEV strains were compared statistically. It was demonstrated with both one-way ANOVA and two-way ANOVA that only one genomic region in RNA-dependent RNA polymerase domain (4254–4560 nt) for which there were no significant differences when compared with the full-length genome (P > 0.05). The same four genotypes were identified by phylogenetic analysis based on this statistically predicted region identified as for the complete genome. RT-PCR amplification of HEV strains from all four genotypes confirmed conservation of the flanking primer sites of this region. Serum samples from 20 patients with a clinical diagnosis of hepatitis E were further analyzed by PCR using the same primers, 13 were positive and could be classified into genotype 4. These data strongly suggested that this newly identified region could be used for future HEV genotyping.