Objective: To clone and analyze the genome of a duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) strain isolated from the ducks found in the local area.
Methods: The complete genome of DHBV was amplified by PCR prior to cloning into T vector and sequencing, with also homology and phylogenetic analyses.
Result: Genome comparison of an isolated DHBV strain and 16 DHBV strains in GenBank revealed a homology of 89.4% to 99.3% at the nucleotide level, and the amino acid identity of the 3 open reading frames showed that the P region harbored more obvious variations than the other regions.
Conclusion: The isolated DHBV strain might belong to a subtype of the virus found in the western countries.