title: Multi-peaked adaptive landscape for chikungunya virus evolution predicts continued fitness optimization in Aedes albopictus mosquitoes.
abstract: Host species-specific fitness landscapes largely determine the outcome of host switching during pathogen emergence. Using chikungunya virus (CHIKV) to study adaptation to a mosquito vector, we evaluated mutations associated with recently evolved sub-lineages. Multiple Aedes albopictus-adaptive fitness peaks became available after CHIKV acquired an initial adaptive (E1-A226V) substitution, permitting rapid lineage diversification observed in nature. All second-step mutations involved replacements by glutamine or glutamic acid of E2 glycoprotein amino acids in the acid-sensitive region, providing a framework to anticipate additional A. albopictus-adaptive mutations. The combination of second-step adaptive mutations into a single, 'super-adaptive' fitness peak also predicted the future emergence of CHIKV strains with even greater transmission efficiency in some current regions of endemic circulation, followed by their likely global spread.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Center for Tropical Diseases, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, 77555-0609 USA.
authors.forename: Konstantin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Tsetsarkin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Center for Tropical Diseases, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, 77555-0609 USA.
authors.forename: Rubing
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Center for Tropical Diseases, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, 77555-0609 USA.
authors.forename: Ruimei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Center for Tropical Diseases, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, 77555-0609 USA.
authors.forename: Shannan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Center for Tropical Diseases, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, 77555-0609 USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Plante
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Center for Tropical Diseases, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, 77555-0609 USA.
authors.forename: Mathilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guerbois
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Center for Tropical Diseases, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, 77555-0609 USA.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Forrester
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, 30322 USA [2] Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan [3] Center of Infectious Disease and Signaling Research, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City 701, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Guey Chuen
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Perng
authors.affiliation: Viral Disease Biology Program, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695012, India.
authors.forename: Easwaran
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sreekumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Center for Tropical Diseases, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, 77555-0609 USA.
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leal
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Center for Tropical Diseases, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, 77555-0609 USA.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, 47405-7000 Indiana, USA.
authors.forename: Suchetana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mukhopadhyay
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Center for Tropical Diseases, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, 77555-0609 USA.
authors.forename: Scott C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Weaver
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000821:virology*; D000818:Animals; D065632:Chikungunya Fever / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D002646:Chikungunya virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000821:virology*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins