Complete genomic sequence of bluetongue virus serotype 16 from

We report here the complete genomic sequence of the Chinese bluetongue virus serotype 1 (BTV1) strain SZ97/1. This work is the first to document the complete genomic sequence of a BTV1 strain from China and represents the second complete sequence of BTV1 in the world. The sequence information provided here will help determine the geographic origin of Chinese BTV1 and provide data to facilitate future analyses of the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of BTV strains. Bluetongue virus (BTV) is the type species of the genus Orbi-virus, within the family Reoviridae (6). The genome of BTV consists of 10 linear double-stranded RNA segments encoding the seven structural proteins (VP1 to VP7) and three nonstruc-tural proteins (NS1, NS2, and NS3/NS3a) (4, 5, 7, 8, 10). Twenty-four BTV serotypes have thus far been recognized in the world, and a putative 25th serotype has recently been pro-posed (BTV25) (1). Since 1979, seven BTV serotypes (BTV1, BTV2, BTV3, BTV4, BTV12, BTV15, and BTV16) have been isolated in China (2, 9, 12). BTV serotypes 1 and 16 are the two most prevalent serotypes in China, and each serotype causes a disease with obvious clinical signs in infected sheep. To date