title: Synonymous Virus Genome Recoding as a Tool to Impact Viral Fitness.
abstract: Synthetic genome recoding is a novel method of generating viruses with altered phenotypes, whereby many synonymous mutations are introduced into the protein coding region of the virus genome without altering the encoded proteins. Virus genome recoding with large numbers of slightly deleterious mutations has produced attenuated forms of several RNA viruses. Virus genome recoding can also aid in investigating virus interactions with innate immune responses, identifying functional virus genome structures, strategically ameliorating cis-inhibitory signaling sequences related to complex viral functions, to unravel the relevance of codon usage for the temporal regulation of viral gene expression and improving our knowledge of virus mutational robustness and adaptability. The present review discusses the impacts of synonymous genome recoding with regard to expanding our comprehension of virus biology, and the development of new and better therapeutic strategies.
authors.affiliation: IrsiCaixa, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Badalona, Spain. Electronic address: mmartinez@irsicaixa.es.
authors.forename: Miguel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: IrsiCaixa, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Badalona, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jordan-Paiz
authors.affiliation: IrsiCaixa, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Badalona, Spain.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.affiliation: IrsiCaixa, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Badalona, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nevot
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000821:virology; D018406:Virus Physiological Phenomena; D014780:Viruses / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: attenuation; genome; recoding; synonymous; synthetic; virus