Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2025
09:02
Monitoring Influenza Virus Survival Outside the Host Using Real-Time Cell Analysis
Published on: February 20, 2021
3.1K
Influenza A virus reassortment is strain dependent
Kishana Y Taylor1, Ilechukwu Agu1, Ivy José1
1Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics University of California, Davis Davis, California.
Plos Pathogens
|March 1, 2023
Summary
Influenza A virus reassortment frequency depends on specific strain pairs, not just subtypes. Certain strains inherently increase or decrease reassortment, impacting viral evolution and public health predictions.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Molecular Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- RNA viruses, including Influenza A, can generate novel strains through genetic exchange during coinfection.
- Predicting genomic reassortment between influenza strains is crucial for understanding viral evolution and public health.
- Previous studies identified factors influencing reassortment, but potential between diverse strains remained elusive.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a high-throughput genotyping method to quantify reassortment among diverse human Influenza A virus strains.
- To investigate the factors, including strain identity and antigenic subtype, that influence reassortment frequency.
- To explore the relationship between viral productivity and reassortment frequency.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a high-throughput genotyping approach to analyze reassortment in coinfected cells.
- Quantified reassortment frequency across a diverse panel of human Influenza A virus strains (pandemic and epidemic strains, H1N1 and H3N2 subtypes).
- Analyzed assortment patterns of individual genome segments and pairwise segment combinations in progeny viruses.
Main Results:
- Reassortment frequency is an emergent property of specific strain pairs, with strain identity predicting frequency.
- Antigenic subtype (H1N1 vs. H3N2) did not significantly drive reassortment; intersubtype and intrasubtype frequencies were similar on average.
- Certain strains consistently biased reassortment frequency up or down, irrespective of the coinfecting partner. Viral productivity was uncorrelated with reassortment frequency.
- Progeny viruses showed a preference for homologous segment combinations, but higher reassortment frequency correlated with increased unique genotypes and heterologous segment combinations.
Conclusions:
- Viral genetic exchange, or reassortment, appears to be a strain-specific trait influenced by natural selection, not evenly distributed.
- Understanding strain-specific reassortment propensities is essential for predicting Influenza A virus evolution and informing public health strategies.
- Future research should incorporate diverse influenza strains to identify traits governing reassortment potential.
More Related Videos
07:55Generation of Escape Variants of Neutralizing Influenza Virus Monoclonal Antibodies
Published on: August 29, 2017
11.8K
08:10Production of High-Titer Infectious Influenza Pseudotyped Particles with Envelope Glycoproteins from Highly Pathogenic H5N1 and Avian H7N9 Viruses
Published on: January 15, 2020
8.4K
Related Concept Videos
00:57Viral Recombination
23.7K
Cells are sometimes infected by more than one virus at once. When two viruses disassemble to expose their genomes for replication in the same cell, similar regions of their genomes can pair together and exchange sequences in a process called recombination. Alternatively, viruses with segmented genomes can swap segments in a process called reassortment.
23.7K
02:28Leaky Scanning
5.2K
During most eukaryotic translation processes, the small 40S ribosome subunit scans an mRNA from its 5' end until it encounters the first start AUG codon. The large 60S ribosomal subunit then joins the smaller one to initiate protein synthesis. The location of the translation initiation is largely determined by the nucleotides near the start codon as there may be multiple translation initiation sites present on the mRNA. Marilyn Kozak discovered that the sequence RCCAUGG (where R...
5.2K
00:36Viral Mutations
32.7K
A mutation is a change in the sequence of bases of DNA or RNA in a genome. Some mutations occur during replication of the genome due to errors made by the polymerase enzymes that replicate DNA or RNA. Unlike DNA polymerase, RNA polymerase is prone to errors because it is not capable of “proofreading” its work. Viruses with RNA-based genomes, like HIV, therefore accrue mutations faster than viruses with DNA-based genomes. Because mutation and recombination provide the raw material...
32.7K
01:29Viruses with RNA Genomes
68
RNA viruses are categorized into positive-strand, negative-strand, or double-stranded groups based on their genomic structure and replication mechanisms. This classification dictates how they exploit host cellular machinery for protein synthesis and replication. Some RNA viruses also utilize reverse transcription as part of their life cycle, further diversifying their replication strategies.Positive-Strand RNA VirusesPositive-strand RNA viruses have genomes that function directly as messenger...
68