Comparative analysis of protein evolution in the genome of pre-epidemic and epidemic Zika virus.
Zika virus (ZIKV) causes microcephaly in congenital infection, neurological disorders, and poor pregnancy outcome and no vaccine is available for use in humans or approved. Although ZIKV was first discovered in 1947, the exact mechanism of virus replication and pathogenesis remains unknown. Recent outbreaks of Zika virus in the Americas clearly suggest a human-mosquito cycle or urban cycle of transmission. Understanding the conserved and adaptive features in the evolution of ZIKV genome will provide a hint on the mechanism of ZIKV adaptation to a new cycle of transmission. Here, we show comprehensive analysis of protein evolution of ZIKV strains including the current 2015-16 outbreak. To identify the constraints on ZIKV evolution, selection pressure at individual codons, immune epitopes and co-evolving sites were analyzed. Phylogenetic trees show that the ZIKV strains of the Asian genotype form distinct cluster and share a common ancestor with African genotype. The TMRCA (Time to the Most Recent Common Ancestor) for the Asian lineage and the subsequently evolved Asian human strains was calculated at 88 and 34years ago, respectively. The proteome of current 2015/16 epidemic ZIKV strains of Asian genotype was found to be genetically conserved due to genome-wide negative selection, with limited positive selection. We identified a total of 16 amino acid substitutions in the epidemic and pre-epidemic strains from human, mosquito, and monkey hosts. Negatively selected amino acid sites of Envelope protein (E-protein) (positions 69, 166, and 174) and NS5 (292, 345, and 587) were located in central dimerization domains and C-terminal RNA-directed RNA polymerase regions, respectively. The predicted 137 (92 CD4 TCEs; 45 CD8 TCEs) immunogenic peptide chains comprising negatively selected amino acid sites can be considered as suitable target for sub-unit vaccine development, as these sites are less likely to generate immune-escape variants due to strong functional constrains operating on them. The targeted changes at the amino acid level may contribute to better adaptation of ZIKV strains to human-mosquito cycle or urban cycle of transmission.
Centre for Infectious Disease Research, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, KA 560012, India.
Arunachalam
A
Ramaiah
Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California at Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States.
Lei
L
Dai
Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, United States.
Deisy
D
Contreras
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Sanjeev
S
Sinha
Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States. Electronic address: rsun@mednet.ucla.edu.
Ren
R
Sun
Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, United States; Department of Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, United States; Department of Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States. Electronic address: arumugaswami@cshs.org.
Vaithilingaraja
V
Arumugaswami
D000330:Aedes / Q000821:virology; D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D000569:Americas / Q000453:epidemiology; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016679:Genome, Viral; D000882:Haplorhini; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000821:virology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010802:Phylogeny; D020543:Proteome / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000071244:Zika Virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000071243:Zika Virus Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology
D020543:Proteome; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
Co-evolving sites; Host adaptation; Immune epitopes; Natural selection; Zika virus