Comparative analysis of the complete genome sequence of the California MSW strain of myxoma virus reveals potential host adaptations
Date
2013-11
Authors
Kerr, Peter J.
Rogers, Matthew B.
Fitch, Adam
Depasse, Jay V.
Cattadori, Isabella M
Hudson, Peter J.
Tscharke, David C.
Holmes, Edward C.
Ghedin, Elodie
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Abstract
Myxomatosis is a rapidly lethal disease of European rabbits that is caused by myxoma virus (MYXV). The introduction of a South American strain of MYXV into the European rabbit population of Australia is the classic case of host-pathogen coevolution following cross-species transmission. The most virulent strains of MYXV for European rabbits are the Californian viruses, found in the Pacific states of the United States and the Baja Peninsula, Mexico. The natural host of Californian MYXV is the brush rabbit, Sylvilagus bachmani. We determined the complete sequence of the MSW strain of Californian MYXV and performed a comparative analysis with other MYXV genomes. The MSW genome is larger than that of the South American Lausanne (type) strain of MYXV due to an expansion of the terminal inverted repeats (TIRs) of the genome, with duplication of the M156R, M154L, M153R, M152R, and M151R genes and part of the M150R gene from the right-hand (RH) end of the genome at the left-hand (LH) TIR. Despite the extreme virulence of MSW, no novel genes were identified; five genes were disrupted by multiple indels or mutations to the ATG start codon, including two genes, M008.1L/R and M152R, with major virulence functions in European rabbits, and a sixth gene, M000.5L/R, was absent. The loss of these gene functions suggests that S. bachmani is a relatively recent host for MYXV and that duplication of virulence genes in the TIRs, gene loss, or sequence variation in other genes can compensate for the loss of M008.1L/R and M152R in infections of European rabbits.
Description
Keywords
Adaptation, Physiological, Animals, Base Sequence, Biological Evolution, California, Europe, Mexico, Molecular Sequence Data, Myxoma virus, Myxomatosis, Infectious, Phylogeny, Rabbits, Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid, Terminal Repeat Sequences, Tumor Virus Infections, Viral Proteins, Virulence, Virus Replication, Genome, Viral
Citation
Collections
Source
Journal of virology
Type
Journal article