title: Genome-wide analysis of codon usage bias in Ebolavirus.
abstract: Ebola virus (EBOV) is a member of the family Filoviridae and its genome consists of a 19-kb, single-stranded, negative sense RNA. EBOV is subdivided into five distinct species with different pathogenicities, being Zaire ebolavirus (ZEBOV) the most lethal species. The interplay of codon usage among viruses and their hosts is expected to affect overall viral survival, fitness, evasion from host's immune system and evolution. In the present study, we performed comprehensive analyses of codon usage and composition of ZEBOV. Effective number of codons (ENC) indicates that the overall codon usage among ZEBOV strains is slightly biased. Different codon preferences in ZEBOV genes in relation to codon usage of human genes were found. Highly preferred codons are all A-ending triplets, which strongly suggests that mutational bias is a main force shaping codon usage in ZEBOV. Dinucleotide composition also plays a role in the overall pattern of ZEBOV codon usage. ZEBOV does not seem to use the most abundant tRNAs present in the human cells for most of their preferred codons.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Nucleares, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay. Electronic address: cristina@cin.edu.uy.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cristina
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Nucleares, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Nucleares, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay; Viral Populations and Pathogenesis Laboratory, Institut Pasteur, CNRS UMR 3569, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moratorio
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Organización y Evolución del Genoma, Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Héctor
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Musto
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological / Q000235:genetics; D000926:Anticodon; D003062:Codon; D029043:Ebolavirus / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016679:Genome, Viral; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000926:Anticodon; D003062:Codon; D012343:RNA, Transfer
keywords: Codon bias; Codon usage; Ebola; Evolution