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Molecular evolutionary dynamics of Ross River virus and implications for vaccine efficacy
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Molecular evolutionary dynamics of Ross River virus and implications for vaccine efficacy

Anita Jones, Kym Lowry, John Aaskov, Edward C Holmes and Andrew Kitchen
Journal of general virology, Vol.91(Pt 1), pp.182-188
01/2010
DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.014209-0
PMID: 19759236
url
https://doi.org/10.1099/vir.0.014209-0View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Ross River virus (RRV) is a mosquito-borne member of the genus Alphavirus that causes epidemic polyarthritis in humans, costing the Australian health system at least US$10 million annually. Recent progress in RRV vaccine development requires accurate assessment of RRV genetic diversity and evolution, particularly as they may affect the utility of future vaccination. In this study, we provide novel RRV genome sequences and investigate the evolutionary dynamics of RRV from time-structured E2 gene datasets. Our analysis indicates that, although RRV evolves at a similar rate to other alphaviruses (mean evolutionary rate of approx. 8x10(-4) nucleotide substitutions per site year(-1)), the relative genetic diversity of RRV has been continuously low through time, possibly as a result of purifying selection imposed by replication in a wide range of natural host and vector species. Together, these findings suggest that vaccination against RRV is unlikely to result in the rapid antigenic evolution that could compromise the future efficacy of current RRV vaccines.
Genome, Viral Ross River virus - genetics Viral Envelope Proteins - genetics Alphavirus Infections - epidemiology Humans Molecular Sequence Data Phylogeny Sequence Analysis, DNA Australia - epidemiology Alphavirus Infections - prevention & control Genetic Variation Sequence Homology Alphavirus Infections - virology Animals RNA, Viral - genetics Culicidae Ross River virus - isolation & purification Ross River virus - classification Disease Vectors Viral Vaccines - immunology Capsid Proteins - genetics Cluster Analysis Evolution, Molecular

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