Molecular evolution of the capsid (VP1) region in human norovirus genogroup II genotype 3
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Updated: Dec 21, 2025

Alternative In Vitro Methods for the Determination of Viral Capsid Structural Integrity
Published on: November 16, 2017
Mariko Saito1, Hiroyuki Tsukagoshi1, Hirotaka Ishigaki2
1Gunma Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Sciences, 378 Kamioki-machi, Maebashi-shi, Gunma 371-0052, Japan.
Abstract:
Norovirus GII.3 has been suggested to be a prevalent genotype in patients with acute gastroenteritis. However, the genetic properties of the VP1 region encoding the major GII.3 antigen remain unclear. Here, we performed molecular evolutionary analyses of the GII.3 VP1 region detected in various countries. We performed time-scaled phylogenetic analyses, selective pressure analyses, phylogenetic distance analyses, and conformational epitope analyses. The time-scaled phylogenetic tree showed that an ancestor of the GII.3 VP1 region diverged from the common ancestors of the GII.6, GII.11, GII.18, and GII.19 approximately 70 years ago with relatively low divergence. The evolutionary rate of the GII.3 VP1 region was rapid (4.82 × 10-3 substitutions/site/year). Furthermore, one positive site and many negative selection sites were observed in the capsid protein. These results suggest that the GII.3 VP1 region rapidly evolved with antigenic variations.
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