Whole-genome sequence analysis of the 24th genotype D11 of measles virus.

We previously reported genotype D11 strains of measles virus that were first isolated from a measles outbreak associated with imported cases in Yunnan province of China by Zhang et al. (Emerg Infect Dis 16(6):943-7, 2010). Genotype D11 has been identified as the 24th genotype of the WHO reference strains. In this study, we sequenced the whole genome of a D11 strain. Phylogenetic analysis using the complete genome sequences of D11 and other reference strains showed that the D11 strain formed a distinct branch that was distant from the other genotypes and was most closely related to the reference strain D7. The M-F non-coding region (NCR) and the N450 coding region sequence (CDS) were found to be the most variable regions. This report provides basic genetic data on genotype D11 for further study of measles evolution and the support for measles elimination.