Ashley I Teufel, Md Imran Hasan, Davida S Smyth. Evolutionary Rate Variation at Predicted PTM Sites Reveals Localized Host-Associated Patterns in Influenza A Virus. Genome Biology and Evolution, 2026
Influenza A viruses (IAVs) represent a persistent threat to global public health because of their capacity to cross species barriers and rapidly adapt to new hosts. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are known to regulate viral protein function, yet the evolutionary dynamics of PTM sites across influenza strains remain largely uncharacterized. In this study, we employed MusiteDeep to computationally predict potential PTM sites across influenza A virus proteins from H1N1, H5N1, and H7N9. We modeled predicted PTM states as discrete evolutionary traits using Bayesian phylogenetic methods to examine patterns of evolutionary rate variation at these computationally identified sites. Our analysis identified 34 positions at predicted PTM sites showing either significantly elevated (11 sites) or reduced (23 sites) evolutionary rates relative to other PTM-associated positions within each protein. Fast-evolving sites were enriched in polymerase proteins and surface glycoproteins, where slowly evolving sites were more broadly distributed, with notable concentrations in PB1 polymerase and NS1 protein. A subset of these sites showed potential host-associated rate differences, suggesting that selective pressures on PTM sites may differ across host lineages.
See Also:
Latest articles in those days:
- Determinants of the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Uptake Among People Aged 50 Years or Above During and After the Pandemic: A Systematic Review 8 hours ago
- [preprint]A GIS-based framework for standardized environmental characterization in One-Health surveillance: a case study of HPAI monitoring in wetlands 8 hours ago
- First detection and transatlantic introduction of Influenza A(H3N2) subclade K (J.2.4.1) into Ecuador: insights from genomic sentinel surveillance 9 hours ago
- Assessment of influenza virus and coronavirus tropism, replication competence and disease severity in ex vivo and in vitro cultures of the human respiratory tract 1 days ago
- Characterization of bovine-derived H5N1 viruses expressing fluorescent and luminescent reporter proteins 1 days ago
[Go Top] [Close Window]


