Genetic divergence of Chikungunya virus plaque variants from the Comoros Island (2005)
Autor(es): Wasonga Caroline, Inoue Shingo, Rumberia Cecilia, Michuki George, Kimotho James, Ongus Juliette R, Sang Rosemary, Musila Lillian
Resumo: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) from a human sample collected during the 2005 Chikungunya outbreak in the Comoros Isl-, showed distinct - reproducible large (L2) - small (S7) plaques which were characterized in this study. The parent strain - plaque variants were analysed by in vitro growth kinetics in different cell lines - their genetic similarity assessed by whole genome sequencing, comparative sequence alignment - phylogenetic analysis. In vitro growth kinetic assays showed similar growth patterns of both plaque variants in Vero cells but higher viral titres of S7 compared to L2 in C6/36 cells. Amino acids (AA) alignments of the CHIKV plaque variants - S27 African prototype strain, showed 30 AA changes in the non-structural proteins (nsP) - 22 AA changes in the structural proteins. Between L2 - S7, only two AAs differences were observed. A missense substitution (C642Y) of L2 in the nsP2, involving a conservative AA substitution - a nonsense substitution (R524X) of S7 in the nsP3, which has been shown to enhance O'nyong-nyong virus infectivity - dissemination in Anopheles mosquitoes. The phenotypic difference observed in plaque size could be attributed to one of these AA substitutions. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the parent strain - its variants clustered closely together with each other - with Indian Ocean CHIKV strains indicating circulation of isolates with close evolutionary relatedness in the same outbreak. These observations pave way for important functional studies to underst- the significance of the identified genetic changes in virulence - viral transmission in mosquito - mammalian hosts.
Palavras-Chave: Chikungunya virus; Comoros Island; Genetic variation; Variants
Imprenta: Virus Genes, v. 51, n. 3, p. 323-328, 2015
Identificador do objeto digital: 10.1007/s11262-015-1243-4
Descritores: Chikungunya virus - Arbovirus ; Chikungunya virus - Biochemistry ; Chikungunya virus - Cell ; Chikungunya virus - Genome ; Chikungunya virus - Proteins ; Chikungunya virus - Infectious diseases ; Chikungunya virus - Viral infections ; Chikungunya Virus - Virus ; Chikungunya virus - Transmission ; Chikungunya virus - Chikungunya fever
Data de publicação: 2015
