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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Isolation of Fidelity Variants of RNA Viruses and Characterization of Virus Mutation Frequency
Published on: June 16, 2011
Different rates of (non-)synonymous mutations in astrovirus genes; correlation with gene function
Formijn J van Hemert1, Vladimir V Lukashov, Ben Berkhout
1Laboratory of Experimental Virology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Center for Infection and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. f.j.vanhemert@amc.uva.nl
Background:
Complete genome sequences of the Astroviridae include human, non-human mammalian and avian species. A consensus topology of astroviruses has been derived from nucleotide substitutions in the full-length genomes and from non-synonymous nucleotide substitutions in each of the three ORFs. Analyses of synonymous substitutions displayed a loss of tree structure, suggesting either saturation of the substitution model or a deviant pattern of synonymous substitutions in certain virus species.
Results:
We analyzed the complete Astroviridae family for the inference of adaptive molecular evolution at sites and in branches. High rates of synonymous mutations are observed among the non-human virus species. Deviant patterns of synonymous substitutions are found in the capsid structural genes. Purifying selection is a dominant force among all astrovirus genes and only few codon sites showed values for the dN/dS ratio that may indicate site-specific molecular adaptation during virus evolution. One of these sites is the glycine residue of a RGD motif in ORF2 of human astrovirus serotype 1. RGD or similar integrin recognition motifs are present in nearly all astrovirus species.
Conclusion:
Phylogenetic analysis directed by maximum likelihood approximation allows the inclusion of significantly more evolutionary history and thereby, improves the estimation of dN and dS. Sites with enhanced values for dN/dS are prominent at domains in charge of environmental communication (f.i. VP27 and domain 4 in ORF1a) more than at domains dedicated to intrinsic virus functions (f.i. VP34 and ORF1b (the virus polymerase)). Integrin recognition may play a key role in astrovirus to target cell attachment.
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