Unravelling selection shifts among foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) serotypes.

ABSTRACT: FMDV virus has been increasingly recognised as the most economically severe animal virus with a remarkable degree of antigenic diversity. Using an integrative evolutionary and computational approach we have compelling evidence for heterogeneity in the selection forces shaping the evolution of the seven different FMDV serotypes. Our results show that positive Darwinian selection has governed the evolution of the major antigenic regions of serotypes A, Asia1, O, SAT1 and SAT2, but not C or SAT3. Co-evolution between sites from antigenic regions under positive selection pinpoints their functional communication to generate immune-escape mutants while maintaining their ability to recognise the host-cell receptors. Neural network and functional divergence analyses strongly point to selection shi

SUBMITTER: Tully DC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2674665 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature