Evidence that ebolaviruses and cuevaviruses have been diverging from marburgviruses since the Miocene
Derek J. Taylor, Matthew J. Ballinger, Jack J. Zhan, Laura E. Hanzly, Jeremy A. Bruenn
Published September 2, 2014
PubMed 25237605
Author and article information
Department of Biological Sciences, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA
DOI 10.7717/peerj.556
Published 2014-09-02 Accepted 2014-08-12 Received 2014-07-16
Academic Editor Claus Wilke
Subject Areas Evolutionary Studies, Genomics, Virology
Keywords
Ebolavirus, Marburgvirus, Paleovirus, Cricetidae, VP35, NP, Filoviruses, Divergence estimation
Copyright © 2014 Taylor et al.
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Cite this article
Taylor DJ, Ballinger MJ, Zhan JJ, Hanzly LE, Bruenn JA. (2014) Evidence that ebolaviruses and cuevaviruses have been diverging from marburgviruses since the Miocene.
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Abstract
An understanding of the timescale of evolution is critical for comparative virology but remains elusive for many RNA viruses. Age estimates based on mutation rates can severely underestimate divergences for ancient viral genes that are evolving under strong purifying selection. Paleoviral dating, however, can provide minimum age estimates for ancient divergence, but few orthologous paleoviruses are known within clades of extant viruses. For example, ebolaviruses and marburgviruses are well-studied mammalian pathogens, but their comparative biology is difficult to interpret because the existing estimates of divergence are controversial. Here we provide evidence that paleoviral elements of two genes (ebolavirus-like VP35 and NP) in cricetid rodent genomes originated after the divergence of ebolaviruses and cuevaviruses from marburgviruses. We provide evidence of orthology by identifying common paleoviral insertion sites among the rodent genomes. Our findings indicate that ebolaviruses and cuevaviruses have been diverging from marburgviruses since the early Miocene.
Cite this as
Taylor DJ, Ballinger MJ, Zhan JJ, Hanzly LE, Bruenn JA. (2014) Evidence that ebolaviruses and cuevaviruses have been diverging from marburgviruses since the Miocene.
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