Abstract
Studies examining positive selection on accessory proteins of HIV are rare, although these proteins play an important role in pathogenesis in vivo. Moreover, despite the biological relevance of analyses of molecular adaptation after viral transmission between species, the issue is still poorly studied. Here we present evidence that accessory proteins are subjected to positive selective forces exclusively in HIV. This scenario suggests that accessory protein genes are under adaptive evolution in HIV clades, while in SIVcpz such a phenomenon could not be detected. As a result, we show that comparative studies are critical to carry out functional investigation of positively selected protein sites, as they might help to achieve a better comprehension of the biology of HIV pathogenesis.
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Acknowledgments
This work is part of the requirements for the Master’s degree in Genetics of A.E.R.S., who is supported by a scholarship from the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq). M.A.S. is supported by CNPq Grant 403589/2004-5 and Rio de Janeiro Science Foundation (FAPERJ) Grant E-26/170-545/2004. C.G.S. is supported by FAPERJ Grants 171.157/2006 and 110.627/2007 and grants from the FAPERJ programs Pensa Rio 2007 and Apoio às Instituições de Pesquisa 2007 to Claudia A. M. Russo. We would also like to thank the reviewers and the editor for the insightful comments that greatly enriched our article.
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Soares, A.E.R., Soares, M.A. & Schrago, C.G. Positive Selection on HIV Accessory Proteins and the Analysis of Molecular Adaptation After Interspecies Transmission. J Mol Evol 66, 598–604 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-008-9112-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-008-9112-6