Two novel recombinant porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome viruses belong to sublineage 3.5 originating from sublineage 3.2

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is an agent of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), which causes substantial economic losses to the swine industry. PRRSV displays rapid variation, and five lineages coexist in mainland China. Lineage 3 PRRSVs emerged in mainland China in 2005 and prevailed in southern China after 2010. In the present study, two lineage 3 PRRSV strains, which are named SD110-1608 and SDWH27-1710, were isolated from northern China in 2017. To explore the characteristics and origins of the two strains, we divided lineage 3 into five sublineages (3.1-3.5) based on 146 open reading frame (ORF) 5 sequences. Both strains and the strains isolated from mainland China were classified into sublineage 3.5. Lineage 3 PRRSVs isolated from Taiwan and Hong Kong were classified into sublineages 3.1-3.3 and sublineage 3.4, respectively. Recombination analysis revealed that SD110-1608 and SDWH27-1710 were derived from recombination of QYYZ (major parent strain) and JXA1 (minor parent strain). Sequence alignment showed that SD110-1608 and SDWH27-1710 shared a 36-aa insertion in Nsp2 with QYYZ isolated from Guangdong Province in 2010. Based on the evolutionary relationship among GP2a, GP3, GP4, GP5 and N proteins between sublineages 3.2 (FJ-1) and 3.5 (FJFS), we speculated that sublineage 3.5 (mainland China) originated from sublineage 3.2 (Taiwan, China). This study provides important information regarding the classification and transmission of lineage 3 PRRSVs.