title: Genetic characterization of the Wyeomyia group of orthobunyaviruses and their phylogenetic relationships.
abstract: Phylogenetic analyses can give new insights into the evolutionary history of viruses, especially of viruses with segmented genomes. However, sequence information for many viral families or genera is still limited and phylogenies based on single or short genome fragments can be misleading. We report the first genetic analysis of all three genome segments of Wyeomyia group viruses Wyeomyia, Taiassui, Macaua, Sororoca, Anhembi and Cachoeira Porteira (BeAr328208) in the genus Orthobunyavirus of the family Bunyaviridae. In addition, Tucunduba and Iaco viruses were identified as members of the Wyeomyia group. Features of Wyeomyia group members that distinguish them from other viruses in the Bunyamwera serogroup and from other orthobunyaviruses, including truncated NSs sequences that may not counteract the host's interferon response, were characterized. Our findings also suggest genome reassortment within the Wyeomyia group, identifying Macaua and Tucunduba viruses as M-segment reassortants that, in the case of Tucunduba virus, may have altered pathogenicity, stressing the need for whole-genome sequence information to facilitate characterization of orthobunyaviruses and their phylogenetic relationships.
authors.affiliation: Center for Infection and Immunity, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Rashmi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chowdhary
authors.affiliation: Center for Infection and Immunity, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Street
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Amelia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Travassos da Rosa
authors.affiliation: Department of Arbovirology and Hemorrhagic Fevers, Instituto Evandro Chagas, Ananindeua, Pará, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcio R T
authors.initials: MRT
authors.lastname: Nunes
authors.affiliation: Center for Infection and Immunity, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Kok Keng
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Tee
authors.affiliation: 454 Roche Life Sciences, Branford, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Hutchison
authors.affiliation: Center for Technological Innovation, Instituto Evandro Chagas, Ananindeua, Pará, Brazil.
authors.forename: Pedro F C
authors.initials: PFC
authors.lastname: Vasconcelos
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Tesh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.|Center for Infection and Immunity, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: W Ian
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Lipkin
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.|Center for Infection and Immunity, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Briese
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016851:Orthobunyavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D016865:Reassortant Viruses / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D026801:Synteny
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral