Abstract
Frequent RNA virus mutations raise concerns about evolving virulent variants. The purpose of this study was to investigate genetic variation in salmonid alphavirus-3 (SAV3) over the course of an experimental infection in Atlantic salmon and brown trout. Atlantic salmon and brown trout parr were infected using a cohabitation challenge, and heart samples were collected for analysis of the SAV3 genome at 2-, 4- and 8-weeks post-challenge. PCR was used to amplify eight overlapping amplicons covering 98.8% of the SAV3 genome. The amplicons were subsequently sequenced using the Nanopore platform. Nanopore sequencing identified a multitude of single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and deletions. The variation was widespread across the SAV3 genome in samples from both species. Mostly, specific SNVs were observed in single fish at some sampling time points, but two relatively frequent (i.e., major) SNVs were observed in two out of four fish within the same experimental group. Two other, less frequent (i.e., minor) SNVs only showed an increase in frequency in brown trout. Nanopore reads were de novo clustered using a 99% sequence identity threshold. For each amplicon, a number of variant clusters were observed that were defined by relatively large deletions. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis integrating the cluster data for eight amplicons indicated that late in infection, SAV3 genomes isolated from brown trout had greater variation than those from Atlantic salmon. The sequencing methods and bioinformatics pipeline presented in this study provide an approach to investigate the composition of genetic diversity during viral infections.