virus evolution
Genetic Diversity and EvolutionPlasticity of Amino Acid Residue 145 Near the Receptor Binding Site of H3 Swine Influenza A Viruses and Its Impact on Receptor Binding and Antibody RecognitionThe complex and continuous antigenic evolution of IAVs remains a major hurdle for vaccine selection and effective vaccination. On the hemagglutinin (HA) of the H3N2 IAVs, the amino acid substitution N 145 K causes significant antigenic changes. We show that amino acid 145 displays remarkable amino acid plasticity in vitro, tolerating multiple amino acid substitutions, many of which have not yet been observed in nature. Mutant...
Genetic Diversity and Evolution | SpotlightA 1,000-Year-Old RNA VirusA virus related to plant chrysoviruses was found in numerous ancient samples of maize, with nearly complete genomes in three samples. The age of the ancient samples (i.e., about 1,000 years old) was confirmed by carbon dating. Chrysoviruses are persistent plant viruses. They infect their hosts from generation to generation by transmission through seeds and can remain in their hosts for very long time periods. When modern corn samples...
Virus-Cell InteractionsStructural Adaptations of Norovirus GII.17/13/21 Lineage through Two Distinct Evolutionary PathsOur understanding of the molecular bases behind the interplays between human noroviruses and their host glycan ligands, as well as their evolutionary changes over time with alterations in their host ligand binding capability and host susceptibility, remains limited. By solving the crystal structures of the glycan ligand binding protruding (P) domains with or without glycan ligands of three representative noroviruses of the GII.17/13/21...
Genetic Diversity and EvolutionCell-Derived Viral Genes Evolve under Stronger Purifying Selection in Rhadinoviruses- Pathogenesis and ImmunityA Dual Motif in the Hemagglutinin of H5N1 Goose/Guangdong-Like Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus Strains Is Conserved from Their Early Evolution and Increases both Membrane Fusion pH and Virulence
Zoonotic highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIV) have raised serious public health concerns of a novel pandemic. Their prime virulence determinant is the polybasic hemagglutinin (HA) cleavage site. However, required coadaptations in the HA (and other genes) remained uncertain. Here, we identified the dual motif 123R/124I in the HA head that increases the activation pH of HA-mediated membrane fusion, essential for virus genome...
- Genetic Diversity and EvolutionMultiple Incursions and Recurrent Epidemic Fade-Out of H3N2 Canine Influenza A Virus in the United States
The relatively recent appearance of influenza A virus (IAV) epidemics in dogs expands our understanding of IAV host range and ecology, providing useful and relevant models for understanding critical factors involved in viral emergence. Here we integrate viral whole-genome sequence analysis and comprehensive surveillance data to examine the evolution of the emerging avian-origin H3N2 canine influenza virus (CIV), particularly the factors...
- Letter to the EditorOrtervirales: New Virus Order Unifying Five Families of Reverse-Transcribing Viruses
- Letter to the Editor | SpotlightHomologous Capsid Proteins Testify to the Common Ancestry of Retroviruses, Caulimoviruses, Pseudoviruses, and Metaviruses
- Genetic Diversity and EvolutionAntigenic Drift Defines a New D4 Subgenotype of Measles Virus