Positive selection on HIV accessory proteins and the analysis of molecular adaptation after interspecies transmission

Studies examining positive selection on accessory proteins of HIV are rare, although these proteins play an important role in pathogenesis in vivo. Moreover, despite the biological relevance of analyses of molecular adaptation after viral transmission between species, the issue is still poorly studied. Here we present evidence that accessory proteins are subjected to positive selective forces exclusively in HIV. This scenario suggests that accessory protein genes are under adaptive evolution in HIV clades, while in SIVcpz such a phenomenon could not be detected. As a result, we show that comparative studies are critical to carry out functional investigation of positively selected protein sites, as they might help to achieve a better comprehension of the biology of HIV pathogenesis.