RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Genomic and phenotypic analyses suggest moderate fitness differences among Zika virus lineages
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.02.01.478673
DO 10.1101/2022.02.01.478673
A1 Glenn Oliveira
A1 Chantal B.F. Vogels
A1 Ashley Zolfaghari
A1 Sharada Saraf
A1 Raphaelle Klitting
A1 James Weger-Lucarelli
A1 Carlos O. Ontiveros
A1 Rimjhim Agarwal
A1 Karla P. Leon
A1 Konstantin A. Tsetsarkin
A1 Eva Harris
A1 Gregory D. Ebel
A1 Shirlee Wohl
A1 Nathan D. Grubaugh
A1 Kristian G. Andersen
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/02/02/2022.02.01.478673.abstract
AB RNA viruses have short generation times and high mutation rates, allowing them to undergo rapid molecular evolution during epidemics. However, the extent of RNA virus phenotypic evolution within epidemics and the resulting effects on fitness and virulence remain mostly unknown. Here, we screened the 2015-2016 Zika epidemic in the Americas for lineage-specific fitness differences. We engineered a library of recombinant viruses representing twelve major Zika virus lineages and used them to measure replicative fitness within disease-relevant human primary cells and live mosquitoes. We found that two of these lineages conferred significant in vitro replicative fitness changes among human primary cells, but we did not find fitness changes in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Additionally, we found evidence for elevated levels of positive selection among five amino acid sites that define major Zika virus lineages. While our work suggests that Zika virus may have acquired several phenotypic changes during a short time scale, these changes were relatively moderate and do not appear to have enhanced virulence or transmission during the epidemic.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.