Widespread Historical Contingency in Influenza Viruses.

ABSTRACT: In systems biology and genomics, epistasis characterizes the impact that a substitution at a particular location in a genome can have on a substitution at another location. This phenomenon is often implicated in the evolution of drug resistance or to explain why particular "disease-causing" mutations do not have the same outcome in all individuals. Hence, uncovering these mutations and their locations in a genome is a central question in biology. However, epistasis is notoriously difficult to uncover, especially in fast-evolving organisms. Here, we present a novel statistical approach that replies on a model developed in ecology and that we adapt to analyze genetic data in fast-evolving systems such as the influenza A virus. We validate the approach using a two-pronged strategy: extensive

SUBMITTER: Nshogozabahizi JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5223518 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature