Migratory flyway and geographical distance are barriers to the gene flow of influenza virus among North American birds.
Despite the importance of migratory birds in the ecology and evolution of avian influenza virus (AIV), there is a lack of information on the patterns of AIV spread at the intra-continental scale. We applied a variety of statistical phylogeographic techniques to a plethora of viral genome sequence data to determine the strength, pattern and determinants of gene flow in AIV sampled from wild birds in North America. These analyses revealed a clear isolation-by-distance of AIV among sampling localities. In addition, we show that phylogeographic models incorporating information on the avian flyway of sampling proved a better fit to the observed sequence data than those specifying homogeneous or random rates of gene flow among localities. In sum, these data strongly suggest that the intra-continental spread of AIV by migratory birds is subject to major ecological barriers, including spatial distance and avian flyway.
Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Tommy Tsan-Yuk
TT
Lam
Hon S
HS
Ip
Elodie
E
Ghedin
David E
DE
Wentworth
Rebecca A
RA
Halpin
Timothy B
TB
Stockwell
David J
DJ
Spiro
Robert J
RJ
Dusek
James B
JB
Bortner
Jenny
J
Hoskins
Bradley D
BD
Bales
Dan R
DR
Yparraguirre
Edward C
EC
Holmes
D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology*; D051456:Gene Flow; D016679:Genome, Viral; D005843:Geography; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000235:genetics*; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D009656:North America; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D012934:Social Isolation