title: Bayesian coalescent inference of hepatitis A virus populations: evolutionary rates and patterns.
abstract: Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a hepatotropic member of the family Picornaviridae. Previous studies suggested that HAV may evolve more slowly than other members of the family. To estimate HAV substitution rates precisely, we used a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach on temporally sampled HAV VP1 full-length sequences from strains isolated in France. A mean rate of evolutionary change of 9.76 x 10(-4) nucleotide substitution per site per year was found. The results also revealed that the synonymous rate found for HAV is lower than that of other members of the family. Bayesian skyline plots revealed a sharp decline in the effective number of infections in 1996, coinciding with the introduction of HAV vaccine.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Nucleares, Facultad de Ciencias, Iguá 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moratorio
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and McGill Cancer Center, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3G 1Y6, Canada.
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Costa-Mattioli
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Organización y Evolución del Genoma, Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Iguá 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Rosina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Piovani
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Organización y Evolución del Genoma, Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Iguá 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Héctor
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Organización y Evolución del Genoma, Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Iguá 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Héctor
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Musto
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Nucleares, Facultad de Ciencias, Iguá 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cristina
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005602:France; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D030041:Hepatitis A virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D017354:Point Mutation; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: C096539:VP1 protein, hepatitis A virus; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins