Autor(es): Butt Azeem Mehmood, Nasrullah Izza, Tong Yigang

Resumo: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an arthropod-borne virus of the family Togaviridae that is transmitted to humans by Aedes spp. mosquitoes. Its genome comprises a 12 kb single-str- positive-sense RNA. In the present study, we report the patterns of synonymous codon usage in 141 CHIKV genomes by calculating several codon usage indices - applying multivariate statistical methods. Relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) analysis showed that the preferred synonymous codons were G/C - A-ended. A comparative analysis of RSCU between CHIKV - its hosts showed that codon usage patterns of CHIKV are a mixture of coincidence - antagonism. Similarity index analysis showed that the overall codon usage patterns of CHIKV have been strongly influenced by Pan troglodytes - Aedes albopictus during evolution. The overall codon usage bias was low in CHIKV genomes, as inferred from the analysis of effective number of codons (ENC) - codon adaptation index (CAI). Our data suggested that although mutation pressure dominates codon usage in CHIKV, patterns of codon usage in CHIKV are also under the influence of natural selection from its hosts - geography. To the best of our knowledge, this is first report describing codon usage analysis in CHIKV genomes. The findings from this study are expected to increase our underst-ing of factors involved in viral evolution, - fitness towards hosts - the environment.

Imprenta: PloS One, v. 9, n. 3, p. e90905, 2014

Identificador do objeto digital: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090905

Descritores: Chikungunya virus - Biochemistry ; Chikungunya virus - Genome ; Chikungunya virus - Pathogenesis ; Chikungunya virus - RNA ; Chikungunya virus - Viral infections ; Chikungunya virus - Molecular methods ; Chikungunya Virus - Virus ; Chikungunya virus - Chikungunya fever ; Chikungunya virus - Epidemiology

Data de publicação: 2014

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