Molecular evolution of GB virus B hepatitis virus during acute resolving and persistent infections in experimentally infected tamarins

作者：Takikawa Shingo; Engle Ronald E; Faulk Kristina N; Emerson Suzanne U; Purcell Robert H; Bukh Jens^*

来源：Journal of General Virology, 2010, 91(3): 727-733.

DOI：10.1099/vir.0.015750-0

GB virus B (GBV-B) causes acute hepatitis in experimentally infected tamarins. We compared evolutionary features in acute resolving and persistent GBV-B infection. We detected no evidence of evolution in four animals with clearance during weeks 9-12, whereas three animals with clearance during weeks 13-26 had several substitutions in their polyprotein sequence. A single tamarin had long-term GBV-B viraemia; analysis of virus recovered at weeks 2, 5, 12, 20, 26, 52 and 104 demonstrated that mutations accumulated over time, Overall, the amino acid substitution rate was 3.5 x 10(-3) and 1.1 x 10(-3) substitutions per site year(-1) during weeks 1-52 and 53-104, respectively. Thus, there was a significant decrease in evolution over time, as found for hepatitis C virus. The rate of non-synonymous substitution per non-synonymous site compared with that of synonymous substitution per synonymous site decreased over time, suggesting reduction of positive selective pressure. These data demonstrate that prolonged GBV-B infection is associated with viral evolution.

• 出版日期2010-3