Diversity of the G3 genes of human rotaviruses in isolates from Spain from 2004 to 2006: cross-species transmission and inter-genotype recombination generates alleles

Rotavirus evolves by using multiple genetic mechanisms which are an accumulation of spontaneous point mutations and reassortment events. Other mechanisms, such as cross-species transmission and inter-genotype recombination, may be also involved. One of the most interesting genotypes in the accumulation of these events is the G3 genotype. In this work, six new Spanish G3 sequences belonging to 0-2-year-old patients from Madrid were analysed and compared with 160 others of the same genotype obtained from humans and other host species to establish the evolutionary pathways of the G3 genotype. The following results were obtained: (i) there are four different lineages of the G3 genotype which have evolved in different species; (ii) Spanish G3 rotavirus sequences are most similar to the described sequences that belong to lineage I; (iii) several G3 genotype alleles were reassigned as other G genotypes; and (iv) inter-genotype recombination events in G3 viruses involving G1 and G2 were described. These findings strongly suggest multiple inter-species transmission events between different non-human mammalian species and humans.