Molecular evolution of hepatitis A virus: a new classification based on the complete VP1 protein.
Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a positive-stranded RNA virus in the genus Hepatovirus in the family Picornaviridae So far, analysis of the genetic variability of HAV has been based on two discrete regions, the VP1/2A junction and the VP1 N terminus. In this report, we determined the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the complete VP1 gene of 81 strains from France, Kosovo, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay and compared them with the sequences of seven strains of HAV isolated elsewhere. Overall strain variation in the complete VP1 gene was found to be as high as 23.7% at the nucleotide level and 10.5% at the amino acid level. Different phylogenetic methods revealed that HAV sequences form five distinct and well-supported genetic lineages. Within these lineages, HAV sequences clustered by geographical origin only for European strains. The analysis of the complete VP1 gene allowed insight into the mode of evolution of HAV and revealed the emergence of a novel variant with a 15-amino-acid deletion located on the VP1 region where neutralization escape mutations were found. This could be the first antigenic variant of HAV so far identified.
Laboratorie de Virologie UPRES-EA1156, Institut de Biologie, Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire de Nantes, 44093 Nantes, France.
Mauro
M
Costa-Mattioli
Juan
J
Cristina
Héctor
H
Romero
Raoul
R
Perez-Bercof
Didier
D
Casane
Rodney
R
Colina
Laura
L
Garcia
Ines
I
Vega
Graciela
G
Glikman
Victor
V
Romanowsky
Alejandro
A
Castello
Elisabeth
E
Nicand
Michelle
M
Gassin
Sylviane
S
Billaudel
Virginie
V
Ferré
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D030041:Hepatitis A virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D010849:Picornaviridae / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013020:South America / Q000453:epidemiology; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015022:Yugoslavia / Q000453:epidemiology
C096539:VP1 protein, hepatitis A virus; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins