Deep sequencing analysis of tick-borne encephalitis virus from questing ticks at natural foci reveals similarities between quasispecies pools of the virus.

ABSTRACT: Every year, tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) causes severe central nervous system infection in 10 000 to 15 000 people in Europe and Asia. TBEV is maintained in the environment by an enzootic cycle that requires a tick vector and a vertebrate host, and the adaptation of TBEV to vertebrate and invertebrate environments is essential for TBEV persistence in nature. This adaptation is facilitated by the error-prone nature of the virus's RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, which generates genetically distinct virus variants called quasispecies. TBEV shows a focal geographical distribution pattern where each focus represents a TBEV hotspot. Here, we sequenced and characterized two TBEV genomes, JP-296 and JP-554, from questing Ixodes ricinus ticks at a TBEV focus in central Sweden. Phylogenetic an

SUBMITTER: Asghar N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5797951 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature