Molecular Heterogeneity of Human Group A Rotavirus in Rural Bangladesh as Determined by Electrophoresis of Genomic Ribonucleic Acid

Genomic diversity of 248 rotavirus strains from stools collected from patients that sought treatment for diarrhoea in Matlab, Bangladesh, between July 1987 and May 1989, was investigated by analysis of migration patterns of viral genomic ribonucleic acid (RNA) segments by electrophoresis. One hundred and seventy-three gave an electropherotype; 90 were of long electropherotypes ("L") and 83 were short electropherotypes ("S") and after co-electrophoresis, 10 different "L" electropherotypes and 12 different "S" electropherotypes were found. Among "L" electropherotypes, the majority (32 of 90) were identified as L1 followed by L8 (21 of 90) and among "S" electropherotypes, the majority (28 of 83) were S2 followed by S3 (14 of 83). L1 was also found most commonly throughout the study period (12/23 months) as was S2 (11/23 months).