Adaptive evolution of the spike gene of SARS coronavirus: changes in positively selected sites in different epidemic groups.

ABSTRACT:

Background

It is believed that animal-to-human transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus (CoV) is the cause of the SARS outbreak worldwide. The spike (S) protein is one of the best characterized proteins of SARS-CoV, which plays a key role in SARS-CoV overcoming species barrier and accomplishing interspecies transmission from animals to humans, suggesting that it may be the major target of selective pressure. However, the process of adaptive evolution of S protein and the exact positively selected sites associated with this process remain unknown.

Results

By investigating the adaptive evolution of S protein, we identified twelve amino acid sites (75, 239, 244, 311, 479, 609, 613, 743, 765, 778, 1148, and 1163) in the S protein under positive select

SUBMITTER: Zhang CY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1609170 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature