Comparative genomics of Japanese encephalitis virus shows low rates of recombination and a small subset of codon positions under episodic diversifying selection.

ABSTRACT: Orthoflavivirus japonicum (JEV) is the dominant cause of viral encephalitis in the Asian region with 100,000 cases and 25,000 deaths reported annually. The genome is comprised of a single polyprotein that encodes three structural and seven non-structural proteins. We collated a dataset of 349 complete genomes from a number of public databases, and analysed the data for recombination, evolutionary selection and phylogenetic structure. There are low rates of recombination in JEV, subsequently recombination is not a major evolutionary force shaping JEV. We found a strong overall signal of purifying selection in the genome, which is the main force affecting the evolutionary dynamics in JEV. There are also a small number of genomic sites under episodic diversifying selection, especially in the

SUBMITTER: Sistrom M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10861042 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature