Extensive Genome-Wide Variability of Human Cytomegalovirus in Congenitally Infected Infants

PLoS Pathogens

Nicholas Renzette¹  Timothy F. Kowalik¹  Bornali Bhattacharjee¹  Laura Gibson²  Jeffrey D. Jensen³ 

[1] Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America;Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine, Divisions of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America;Program in Bioinformatics & Integrative Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America

关键词: Sequence alignment;    Genome analysis;    Species diversity;    Gene prediction;    Human cytomegalovirus;    Sequence assembly tools;    Nucleotide sequencing;    Viral genomics;   

DOI  :  10.1371/journal.ppat.1001344

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Public Library of Science

【 摘 要 】

Research has shown that RNA virus populations are highly variable, most likely due to low fidelity replication of RNA genomes. It is generally assumed that populations of DNA viruses will be less complex and show reduced variability when compared to RNA viruses. Here, we describe the use of high throughput sequencing for a genome wide study of viral populations from urine samples of neonates with congenital human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infections. We show that HCMV intrahost genomic variability, both at the nucleotide and amino acid level, is comparable to many RNA viruses, including HIV. Within intrahost populations, we find evidence of selective sweeps that may have resulted from immune-mediated mechanisms. Similarly, genome wide, population genetic analyses suggest that positive selection has contributed to the divergence of the HCMV species from its most recent ancestor.These data provide evidence that HCMV, a virus with a large dsDNA genome, exists as a complex mixture of genome types in humans and offer insights into the evolution of the virus.

【 授权许可】

CC BY