Positive Darwinian evolution in human influenza A viruses.
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
It is shown that viral hemagglutinins fix proportionately more amino acid replacements in antigenic sites in the trunk of the evolutionary tree (survivors) than in the branches (nonsurvivors), demonstrating that type A human influenza virus is undergoing positive Darwinian evolution.Abstract:
We earlier suggested that type A human influenza virus genes undergo positive Darwinian selection through immune surveillance. This requires more favorable amino acid replacements fixed in antigenic sites among the surviving lineages than among the extinct lineages. We now show that viral hemagglutinins fix proportionately more amino acid replacements in antigenic sites in the trunk of the evolutionary tree (survivors) than in the branches (nonsurvivors), demonstrating that type A human influenza virus is undergoing positive Darwinian evolution. The hemagglutinin gene is evolving 3 times faster than the nonstructural gene and the average age of the sampled nonsurvivors is only 1.6 years, so that extinction is not only common but rapid.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Inferring the historical patterns of biological evolution
TL;DR: The combination of these phylogenies with powerful new statistical approaches for the analysis of biological evolution is challenging widely held beliefs about the history and evolution of life on Earth.
Journal ArticleDOI
Inferring evolutionary processes from phylogenies
TL;DR: A set of maximum likelihood statistical methods for inferring historical evolutionary processes and anticipating the wealth of information becoming available to biological scientists from genetic studies that pin down relationships among organisms with unprecedented accuracy are described.
Journal ArticleDOI
The genomic and epidemiological dynamics of human influenza A virus
Andrew Rambaut,Oliver G. Pybus,Martha I. Nelson,Cécile Viboud,Jeffery K. Taubenberger,Edward C. Holmes,Edward C. Holmes +6 more
TL;DR: It is shown that the genomic evolution of influenza A virus is characterized by a complex interplay between frequent reassortment and periodic selective sweeps, suggesting a sink–source model of viral ecology in which new lineages are seeded from a persistent influenza reservoir to sink populations in temperate regions.
Journal ArticleDOI
Influenza vaccine: the challenge of antigenic drift.
TL;DR: To meet the challenge of antigenic drift, vaccines that confer broad protection against heterovariant strains are needed against seasonal, epidemic and pandemic influenza.
Journal ArticleDOI
Variability and genetic structure of plant virus populations.
TL;DR: There is evidence that negative selection results in virus-encoded proteins being not more variable than those of their hosts and vectors, and evidence suggests that small population diversity, and genetic stability, is the rule.