Genogroup characterization of reemerging serotype G9 human rotavirus strain 95H115 in comparison with earlier G9 and other human prototype strains.

Serotype G9 human rotaviruses have emerged globally since the mid-1990s. The 95H115 strain was derived from a stool specimen collected in Japan in the 1994-95 season, thus it is the earliest of the globally reemerging G9 human rotaviruses that were adapted to cell culture. Genogrouping by RNA-RNA hybridization was performed to examine the genetic background of 95H115. The 95H115 strain belonged to the Wa genogroup, the most common human rotavirus genogroup, and it had a high degree of homology with AU32 and WI61, the prototype G9 isolates in the 1980s. However, the divergent genomic RNA constellation as indicated by the aberrant hybridization patterns between 95H115 and earlier G9 strains served as further evidence that 95H115 was not a direct descendant of the prototype strains in the '80s.