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Analysis of the full-length genome of hepatitis A virus isolated in South America: heterogeneity and evolutionary constraints

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Abstract

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a hepatotropic member of the family Picornaviridae. Currently, the entire nucleotide sequence is available for only 26 HAV isolates. The complete genome sequence of genotype IA HAV from strains isolated in South America, where genotype IA is the most prevalent genotype, remains unknown. In this study, the complete nucleotide sequence was determined for a genotype IA HAV isolate recovered from a Uruguayan patient (HAV5). Phylogenetic analysis performed using HAV5 and all available full-length IA genotype HAV strains revealed a high synonymous substitution rate throughout the HAV polyprotein. The results of these studies revealed strong selection against amino acid replacements along the HAV polyprotein and may explain, at least in part, the presence of a single HAV serotype.

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Acknowledgments

Authors would like to thank Dr. Mauro Costa-Mattioli, McGill University, Montreal, Canada for invaluable help. We would like to thank Dr. Didier Casane from Laboratoire Evolution Génomes et Spéciation (UPR9034), CNRS, France and Dr. Fernando Álvarez-Valin, Sección Biomatemáticas, Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Uruguay, for invaluable help and critical reading of this work. We would like to thank M.Sc. Pilar Moreno and Lic. Gonzalo Moratorio, from Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, CIN, Facultad de Ciencias. We would like to thank Dr. Rodolfo Vazquez and R.N. Zoraida Fort, from Ministry of Public Health, Uruguay, for their support in sample collections. JC acknowledges support by PEDECIBA (Uruguay). The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for important suggestions regarding this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Nucleares, Facultad de Ciencias, Iguá 4225, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Laura García-Aguirre & Juan Cristina

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  1. Laura García-Aguirre
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  2. Juan Cristina
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Correspondence to Juan Cristina.

Additional information

Nucleotide sequence data reported are available in the EMBL database under accession number EU131373.

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García-Aguirre, L., Cristina, J. Analysis of the full-length genome of hepatitis A virus isolated in South America: heterogeneity and evolutionary constraints. Arch Virol 153, 1473–1478 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-008-0151-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-008-0151-5

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