Insights into the Evolution and Host Adaptation of the Monkeypox Virus from a Codon Usage Perspective: Focus on the Ongoing 2022 Outbreak.

ABSTRACT: The exceptionally widespread outbreak of human monkeypox, an emerging zoonosis caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV), with more than 69,000 confirmed cases in 100 non-endemic countries since 2022, is a major public health concern. Codon usage patterns reflect genetic variation and adaptation to new hosts and ecological niches. However, detailed analyses of codon usage bias in MPXV based on large-scale genomic data, especially for strains responsible for the 2022 outbreak, are lacking. In this study, we analyzed codon usage in MPXV and its relationship with host adaptation. We confirmed the ongoing outbreak of MPXVs belonging to the West Africa (WA) lineage by principal component analysis based on their codon usage patterns. The 2022 outbreak strains had a relatively low codon usage b

SUBMITTER: Zhou J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10380431 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature