Phylogeny and expression of the nucleocapsid gene of porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus

Porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) is one of the important pathogens that may cause severe diarrhoea in piglets. In this study, the nucleocapsid (N) gene of a Chinese PEDV isolate designated HLJBY was cloned. The phylogeny of PEDV strains was investigated by constructing a phylogenetic tree based on the N protein sequences. The results indicate that there are two major groups of Chinese PEDVs, a Japanese PEDV group and a Korean PEDV group. High-level expression of the N protein was achieved inEscherichia coli. The immunoreactivity between PEDV particles or the bacterially expressed N protein and rabbit anti-PEDV serum was confirmed by immunofluorescence assays and Western blot. Both PEDV N protein and the polyclonal antibody generated in this study are valuable diagnostic reagents for PEDV surveillance.