Mutations of the PCV-2 capsid motif, specific of each PCV-2 genogroup, attenuate virulence in vivo

The porcine circovirus of type 2 (PCV-2) is a non-enveloped, small single-stranded DNA virus. It is the causal agent of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) and is involved in “porcine circovirus diseases”. After the re-emergence of PMWS in North America in 2005, the presence of new circulating PCV-2 isolates belonging to PCV-2b genogroup raises the assumption that this genogroup is more virulent than the PCV-2a one. Viruses of each genogroup contain a distinct motif of amino a