Relation of genetic phylogeny and geographical distance of tick-borne encephalitis virus in central Europe

• Published in: Journal of general virology Vol. 92; no. 8; pp. 1906 - 1916
• Main Authors: Weidmann, M., Růžek, D., Křivanec, K., Zöller, G., Essbauer, S., Pfeffer, M., Zanotto, P. M. de A., Hufert, F. T., Dobler, G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Reading Society for General Microbiology 01.08.2011
• Subjects: Animals; Arachnid Vectors - virology; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Czech Republic; Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne - classification; Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne - genetics; Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne - isolation & purification; Encephalitis, Tick-Borne - virology; Evolution, Molecular; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Germany; Humans; Ixodes - virology; Mice; Microbiology; Miscellaneous; Molecular Sequence Data; Phylogeny; Phylogeography; Viral Proteins - genetics; Virology; Czech Republic; Germany; Tick borne encephalitis group virus; Virus; Genetic distance; Phylogeny; Flaviviridae; Flavivirus; Tick borne encephalitis virus
• ISSN: 0022-1317; 1465-2099; 1465-2099
• DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.032417-0

Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is the most important arboviral agent causing disease of the central nervous system in central Europe. In this study, 61 TBEV E gene sequences derived from 48 isolates from the Czech Republic, and four isolates and nine TBEV strains detected in ticks from Germany, covering more than half a century from 1954 to 2009, were sequenced and subjected to phylogenetic and Bayesian phylodynamic analysis to determine the phylogeography of TBEV in central Europe. The general Eurasian continental east-to-west pattern of the spread of TBEV was confirmed at the regional level but is interlaced with spreading that arises because of local geography and anthropogenic influence. This spread is reflected by the disease pattern in the Czech Republic that has been observed since 1991. The overall evolutionary rate was estimated to be approximately 8×10 −4 substitutions per nucleotide per year. The analysis of the TBEV E genes of 11 strains isolated at one natural focus in Žďár Kaplice proved for the first time that TBEV is indeed subject to local evolution.