Microevolution of Puumala hantavirus during a complete population cycle of its host, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus)

PLoS One. 2013 May 22;8(5):e64447. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064447. Print 2013.

Abstract

Microevolution of Puumala hantavirus (PUUV) was studied throughout a population cycle of its host, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus). We monitored PUUV variants circulating in the host population in Central Finland over a five-year period that included two peak-phases and two population declines. Of 1369 bank voles examined, 360 (26.3%) were found infected with PUUV. Partial sequences of each of the three genome segments were recovered (approx. 12% of PUUV genome) from 356 bank voles. Analyses of these sequences disclosed the following features of PUUV evolution: 1) nucleotide substitutions are mostly silent and deduced amino acid changes are mainly conservative, suggesting stabilizing selection at the protein level; 2) the three genome segments accumulate mutations at a different rate; 3) some of the circulating PUUV variants are frequently observed while others are transient; 4) frequently occurring PUUV variants are composed of the most abundant segment genotypes (copious) and new transient variants are continually generated; 5) reassortment of PUUV genome segments occurs regularly and follows a specific pattern of segments association; 6) prevalence of reassortant variants oscillates with season and is higher in the autumn than in the spring; and 7) reassortants are transient, i.e., they are not competitively superior to their parental variants. Collectively, these observations support a quasi-neutral mode of PUUV microevolution with a steady generation of transient variants, including reassortants, and preservation of a few preferred genotypes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Arvicolinae / genetics
  • Arvicolinae / virology*
  • Disease Vectors*
  • Evolution, Molecular*
  • Genes, Viral
  • Genetic Variation
  • Puumala virus / genetics*
  • Puumala virus / isolation & purification
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

Grants and funding

This work has been supported by grants from the Academy of Finland, Sigrid Jusélius Foundation, and was partially funded by EU-FP6 grant GOCE-2003-010284 EDEN (http://www.eden-fp6project.net) and the EU grant FP7-261504 EDENext (http://www.edenext.eu) and is catalogued by the EDENext Steering Committee as EDENext021. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.