Rui Peng ^1* Mengxuan Wang ^1* Saleha Shahar ² Guangping Xiong ^1* Qing Zhang ^1* Li-li Pang ¹ Hong Wang ^1* Xiangyu Kong ^1* Dandi Li ^1* Zhaojun Duan ^1*

• ¹ Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
• ² University of Technology Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia

Introduction: This study, conducted in China prior to RotaTeq's launch, examined the epidemiological, molecular, and evolution features of the G1P[8] genotype RVA in children admitted with diarrhea, to aid in evaluating its efficacy and impact on G1P[8] RVA in China. Methods: Data from the Chinese viral diarrhea surveillance network was collected from January 2016 to December 2018. RVA strains identified as G1P[8] genotype were subjected to whole genome sequencing. Neutralizing epitopes, amino acid selection pressure and evolution dynamics analysis on VP7 and VP4 were performed by BioEdit v.7.0.9.0 and PyMOL v.2.5.2, four algorithms (MEME, SLAC, FEL and FUBAR) in Datamonkey online software, and MCMC model in BEAST v. 1.10.4, respectively. Phylogenetic and identity features of 11 genes were assessed by DNAStar and MEGA v.7. Results: Results showed that the detection rate of G1P[8] in China from 2016 to 2018 was generally low with significant seasonality. The whole genome of G1P[8] of four 2016 childhood diarrhea specimens were successfully sequenced. Phylogenetic and neutralizing epitope analysis showed that Rotavin-M1 might have better protection on G1P[8] prevalent in China than Rotarix and RotaTeq. Two conserved N-glycosylation sites on VP7 of Chinese G1P[8] might affect the protective effect of the vaccine. Evolution rate and selection pressure analysis identified the possibility of rapidly evolving and adapting to new environment introduced by vaccines of G1P[8]. Whereas positive selection specific to VP4 indicated potential tendency to select for dominant traits. Identity and phylogeny analysis showed that Chinses G1P[8] from before 2018 were generally stable with possible genetic recombination among local strains.Discussion: These findings are not only of great significance for predicting the prevalence of G1P [8] in China, but also provide data reference for evaluating rotavirus vaccine efficacy.Key wo rds : r ot aviru s, wh o le g en om e, epi dem i olo gy, e volu t ion , sel ect ion pr essu r e, n eu t ralizin g an t igen ic epit opes