Co-evolution of sites under immune selection shapes Epstein-Barr Virus population structure.

ABSTRACT: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is one of the most common viral infections in humans and persists within its host for life. EBV therefore represents an extremely successful virus that has evolved complex strategies to evade the host's innate and adaptive immune response during both initial and persistent stages of infection. Here, we conducted a comparative genomics analysis on 223 whole genome sequences of world-wide EBV strains. We recover extensive genome-wide linkage disequilibrium (LD) despite pervasive genetic recombination. This pattern is explained by the global EBV population being subdivided into three main sub-populations, one primarily found in East Asia, one in Southeast Asia and Oceania, and the third including most of the other globally distributed genomes we analyzed. Additionally

SUBMITTER: Wegner F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6805225 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature