Dec 17 2021 RNA secondary structure conservation and molecular epidemiology of TBEV

In this paper, we study the molecular epidemiology and RNA structureome diversity of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). Moreover, we propose a unified picture of pervasive non-coding RNA structure conservation across all known TBEV subtypes

We show that the TBEV 3′ architectural diversity is realized by a combination of a restricted pool of eight structural and one non-structural element, suggesting that the observed 3′UTR variability is driven by structural, rather than sequence conservation.

Download PDF

Abstract

Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is the etiological agent of tick-borne encephalitis, an infectious disease of the central nervous system that is often associated with severe sequelae in humans. While TBEV is typically classified into three subtypes, recent evidence suggests a more varied range of TBEV subtypes and lineages that differ substantially in their 3’UTR architecture. Building on comparative genomics approaches and thermodynamic modelling, we characterize the TBEV 3’UTR structureome diversity and propose a unified picture of pervasive non-coding RNA (ncRNA) structure conservation. Moreover, we provide an updated phylogeny of TBEV, building on more than 220 publicly available complete genomes, and investigate the molecular epidemiology and phylodynamics with Nextstrain, a web-based visualization framework for real-time pathogen evolution.

Figures and Data

Citation

Evolutionary traits of Tick-borne encephalitis virus: Pervasive non-coding RNA structure conservation and molecular epidemiology
Lena S. Kutschera, Michael T. Wolfinger
Virus Evol. (8):1 veac051 (2022) | doi: 10.1093/ve/veac051 | PDF | Supplementary data