Isolation and Characterization of a Frog Virus 3 Strain from a Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica) in Wood Buffalo National Park

Members of the <i>Iridoviridae</i> family, genus <i>Ranavirus</i>, represent a group of globally emerging pathogens of ecological and economic importance. In 2017, an amphibian die-off of wood frogs (<i>Rana sylvatica</i>) and boreal chorus frogs (<i>Pseudacris maculata</i>) was reported in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada. Isolation and complete genomic sequencing of the tissues of a wood frog revealed the presence of a frog virus 3 (FV3)-like isolate, <i>Rana sylvatica</i> ranavirus (RSR), with a genome size of 105,895 base pairs, 97 predicted open reading frames (ORFs) bearing sequence similarity to FV3 (99.98%) and a FV3-like isolate from a spotted salamander in Maine (SSME; 99.64%). Despite high sequence similarity, RSR had a unique genomic composition containing ORFs specific to either FV3 or SSME. In addition, RSR had a unique 13 amino acid insertion in ORF 49/50L. No differences were found in the in vitro growth kinetics of FV3, SSME, and RSR; however, genomic differences between these isolates were in non-core genes, implicated in nucleic acid metabolism and immune evasion. This study highlights the importance of viral isolation and complete genomic analysis as these not only provide information on ranavirus spatial distribution but may elucidate genomic factors contributing to host tropism and pathogenicity.