Both Epistasis and Diversifying Selection Drive the Structural Evolution of the Ebola Virus Glycoprotein Mucin-Like Domain.

ABSTRACT:

Unlabelled

Throughout the last 3 decades, Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreaks have been confined to isolated areas within Central Africa; however, the 2014 variant reached unprecedented transmission and mortality rates. While the outbreak was still under way, it was reported that the variant leading up to this outbreak evolved faster than previous EBOV variants, but evidence for diversifying selection was undetermined. Here, we test this selection hypothesis and show that while previous EBOV outbreaks were preceded by bursts of diversification, evidence for site-specific diversifying selection during the emergence of the 2014 EBOV clade is weak. However, we show strong evidence supporting an interplay between selection and correlated evolution (epistasis), particularly in the mucin-like d

SUBMITTER: Ibeh N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4934740 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature