Foods and Raw Materials

2308-4057 2310-9599

125341

10.21603/2308-4057-2027-2-707

Research Article

Genetic heterogeneity and pathogenetic mechanisms of bovine leukemia virus

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9892-6092

Petropavlovsky

Maxim V.

Petropavlovsky

Maxim V.

petropavlovsky_m@mail.ru

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8349-3004

Donnik

Irina M.

Donnik

Irina M.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1918-3030

Krivonogova

Anna S.

Krivonogova

Anna S.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8395-1247

Isaeva

Albina G.

Isaeva

Albina G.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0189-2963

Badretdinova

Alisa S.

Badretdinova

Alisa S.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9251-0056

Martynov

Nikolay A.

Martynov

Nikolay A.

Ural Federal Agrarian Scientific Research Centre, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yekaterinburg Россия Ural Federal Agrarian Scientific Research Centre, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yekaterinburg Russian Federation

Ural State Agrarian University Yekaterinburg Россия Ural State Agrarian University Yekaterinburg Russian Federation

05 06 2026

15 2 257 269 20 11 2025 08 12 2025

https://jfrm.ru/en/issues/24523/24524/

Bovine leukemia virus is an RNA virus of the Retrovivridae family. It causes a chronic infectious disease in farm animals that poses a serious threat to global cattle farming. According to phylogenetic studies, the pathogen is classified into 12 genotypes. This comprehensive bioinformatic analysis featured new bovine leukemia virus isolates (n = 57) sampled from various regions of the Russian Federation with different epizootic situations. The analysis featured both new sequences and old samples from Russia available in the National Center for Biotechnology Information. This large-scale approach made it possible to cover all known genotypes. G4 genotype was associated with major amino acid substitutions in gp51 (T47A, A73P, R121H in epitope G; S56F in epitope H; I144T in ND2; D166G in CD8+). These substitutions provide a selective advantage through immune evasion mechanisms, including escape from humoral immunity, impaired T-cell recognition, and increased receptor affinity. G4 also correlated with rapid progression. The rapid replacement of G7 by G4 in the Tyumen Region and the general dominance of G4 in Russia were due to a more aggressive course of infection resulting from the genetic ability of the pathogen to adapt to the host immune system. The obtained data underscore the necessity of developing genotype-specific diagnostic systems and implementing routine molecular-genetic monitoring to control the spread of bovine leukemia virus. New data on genetic variability and its impact on genotype-phenotype correlations may help curb the infection.

Bovine leukemia virus bioinformatic analysis genotype G4 gp51 amino acid substitutions env gene epitope epizootiology virus evolution diagnostics

The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 23-16-00103, https://rscf.ru/project/ 23-16-00103/

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