Arcos S, Han AX, Te Velthuis AJW, Russell CA, Laur. Mutual information networks reveal evolutionary relationships within the influenza A virus polymerase. Virus Evol. 2023 May 27;9(1):vead037
The influenza A virus (IAV) RNA polymerase is an essential driver of IAV evolution. Mutations that the polymerase introduces into viral genome segments during replication are the ultimate source of genetic variation, including within the three subunits of the IAV polymerase (polymerase basic protein 2, polymerase basic protein 1, and polymerase acidic protein). Evolutionary analysis of the IAV polymerase is complicated, because changes in mutation rate, replication speed, and drug resistance involve epistatic interactions among its subunits. In order to study the evolution of the human seasonal H3N2 polymerase since the 1968 pandemic, we identified pairwise evolutionary relationships among ~7000 H3N2 polymerase sequences using mutual information (MI), which measures the information gained about the identity of one residue when a second residue is known. To account for uneven sampling of viral sequences over time, we developed a weighted MI (wMI) metric and demonstrate that wMI outperforms raw MI through simulations using a well-sampled severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) dataset. We then constructed wMI networks of the H3N2 polymerase to extend the inherently pairwise wMI statistic to encompass relationships among larger groups of residues. We included hemagglutinin (HA) in the wMI network to distinguish between functional wMI relationships within the polymerase and those potentially due to hitch-hiking on antigenic changes in HA. The wMI networks reveal coevolutionary relationships among residues with roles in replication and encapsidation. Inclusion of HA highlighted polymerase-only subgraphs containing residues with roles in the enzymatic functions of the polymerase and host adaptability. This work provides insight into the factors that drive and constrain the rapid evolution of influenza viruses.
See Also:
Latest articles in those days:
- Mechanism of co-transcriptional cap snatching by influenza polymerase 23 hours ago
- Understanding spatiotemporal clustering of seasonal influenza in the United States 23 hours ago
- [preprint]Pathogenesis of H5N1 Clade 2.3.4.4b in dry Jersey cows following intramammary inoculation shows within-host compartmentalization 23 hours ago
- [preprint]Optimizing an avian influenza vaccine using a novel Bacterial Enzymatic Combinatorial Chemistry (BECC) TLR4 adjuvant 23 hours ago
- Lack of Respiratory Droplet Transmission of Two Recent Human Influenza A(H5N1) Viruses in Female Ferrets 3 days ago
[Go Top] [Close Window]


