Evidence of selection pressures of neuraminidase gene (NA) of influenza A virus subtype H5N1 on different hosts in Guangxi Province of China

Youhua Chen; You-Fang Chen

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2013.09.009

Evidence of selection pressures of neuraminidase gene (NA) of influenza A virus subtype H5N1 on different hosts in Guangxi Province of China

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2014 Apr;21(2):179-83. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2013.09.009. Epub 2013 Oct 2.

Authors

Youhua Chen¹, You-Fang Chen²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z4, Canada.
² School of Software, Harbin Normal University, Heilongjiang Province, China.

Abstract

In the present study, the possible evidence of positive selection was analyzed for the neuraminidase (NA) sequences of Guangxi H5N1 strains of China. Based on an overall site-specific positive selection analysis, it was found that NA gene of H5N1 Guangxi strains underwent purifying selection and no significant positively selected sites were identified. For the branch-specific positive selection analysis, there was no positive selection evidence for the branches leading to different poultry hosts (chicken, duck and goose). Conclusively, positive selection seems not possible (if not rare) for the NA gene in influenza H5N1 subtype, at least for the samples found in Guangxi Province of China.

Keywords: Adaptive evolution; Host specificity; Influenza A virus; Positive selection.