Allele dynamics plots for the study of evolutionary dynamics in viral populations.

ABSTRACT: Phylodynamic techniques combine epidemiological and genetic information to analyze the evolutionary and spatiotemporal dynamics of rapidly evolving pathogens, such as influenza A or human immunodeficiency viruses. We introduce 'allele dynamics plots' (AD plots) as a method for visualizing the evolutionary dynamics of a gene in a population. Using AD plots, we propose how to identify the alleles that are likely to be subject to directional selection. We analyze the method's merits with a detailed study of the evolutionary dynamics of seasonal influenza A viruses. AD plots for the major surface protein of seasonal influenza A (H3N2) and the 2009 swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) viruses show the succession of substitutions that became fixed in the evolution of the two viral populations. They a

SUBMITTER: Steinbruck L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3017622 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature