Ibrahim, Y.M.Zhang, W.Wang, X.Werid, G.M.Fu, L.Yu, H.Wang, Y.He, B.2023-10-252023-10-252023Microbiology Spectrum, 2023; 11(6)2165-04972165-0497https://hdl.handle.net/2440/139747Published 13 October 2023Four enterovirus G (EV-G) strains were isolated from diarrheic piglets that were negative for common swine enteric viruses. The spherical enterovirus particles of roughly 30-nm diameter were observed under transmission electron microscopy by using plaque-purified enterovirus. The complete genome sequence analysis revealed that each of four enteroviruses contained a papain-like cysteine protease (PLCP) gene between the 2C and 3A junction regions of the viral genome. This insertion encoded a predicted protease similar to the PLCP of porcine torovirus. The phylogenetic analysis based on complete genome with and without PLCP gene revealed that the four isolated EV-G strains were grouped together with global enterovirus G1-PLCP strains, and more closely related to EV-G/PLCP strains previously detected in China, Japan, and Korea (90.3%–92.2% similarities based on nucleotides). The cell susceptibility test demonstrated that the isolated EV-G could infect and replicate in cell lines from various host species. Furthermore, pathogenicity evaluation showed that the isolated EV-Gs induced mild diarrhea, pyrexia, and reduced body weight in infected piglets. The epidemiological investigation revealed a high prevalence of EV-G in swine herds. Together, our findings demonstrate that the isolated EV-G is pathogenic in piglets and may be advantageous in providing more trustworthy data on the evolution and pathological properties of EV-G.enCopyright © 2023 Ibrahim et al. This is an openaccess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.enterovirus G; characterization; genetic recombination; pathogenicityJournal article10.1128/spectrum.02643-232023-10-19659010Werid, G.M. [0000-0002-3189-1470]