Astroviruses (AstVs) have been identified in the stools of calves with enteritis and in the brain tissues of bovines with encephalitis but their pathogenic role has not been clarified. In this study, we report the detection and characterization of bovine and water buffalo AstV strains identified in young bovine and buffalo calves with enteritis in Italy between 2012 and 2015. By negative staining transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation, AstV-like particles were identified in the stools of the animals and AstV RNA was confirmed molecularly. The sequence (~3.2-kb) at the 3' end of the genome was determined for two bovine and two buffalo AstVs. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis on the partial ORF1b and full-length ORF2 revealed a marked genetic diversity although the viruses were distantly related to other AstV identified from ruminants. Gathering sequence information on ruminant AstVs is important to understand the extent of inter-species circulation and for the development of reliable, specific diagnostic tools.

中文翻译：

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牛和水牛犊牛肠炎中星状病毒的鉴定。

在患有肠炎的小牛的粪便和患有脑炎的牛的脑组织中已鉴定出星状病毒（AstVs），但其致病作用尚未阐明。在这项研究中，我们报告了2012年至2015年间在意大利小肠牛和牛的小牛和水牛小牛中鉴定出的牛和水牛AstV菌株的检测和表征。通过负染色透射电镜（TEM）观察，鉴定出了AstV样颗粒在动物的粪便中检测到AstV RNA，并在分子上进行了证实。确定了两个牛和两个水牛AstV在基因组3'端的序列（〜3.2-kb）。对部分ORF1b和全长ORF2的序列和系统发育分析显示，虽然这些病毒与反刍动物中鉴定出的其他AstV远距离相关，但仍显示出显着的遗传多样性。收集反刍动物AstV的序列信息对于了解物种间流通的程度以及开发可靠，特定的诊断工具非常重要。