Arctic and Arctic-like rabies viruses: distribution, phylogeny and evolutionary history

• Published in: Epidemiology and Infection
• Main Authors: KUZMIN, I. V., HUGHES, G. J., BOTVINKIN, A. D., GRIBENCHA, S. G., RUPPRECHT, C. E.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press 2008
• Subjects: Original Papers; Arctic; Alaska; Siberia
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2870842; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17599781; https://doi.org/10.1017/S095026880700903X

Forty-one newly sequenced isolates of Arctic and Arctic-like rabies viruses, were genetically compared to each other and to those available from GenBank. Four phylogenetic lineages of Arctic viruses were identified. Arctic-1 viruses circulate in Ontario, Arctic-2 viruses circulate in Siberia and Alaska, Arctic-3 viruses circulate circumpolarly, and a newly described lineage Arctic-4 circulates locally in Alaska. The oldest available isolates from Siberia (between 1950 and 1960) belong to the Arctic-2 and Arctic-3 lineages and share 98·6–99·2% N gene identity with contemporary viruses. Two lineages of Arctic-like viruses were identified in southern Asia and the Middle East (Arctic-like-1) and eastern Asia (Arctic-like-2). A time-scaled tree demonstrates that the time of the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) of Arctic and Arctic-like viruses is dated between 1255 and 1786. Evolution of the Arctic viruses has occurred through a northerly spread. The Arctic-like-2 lineage diverged first, whereas Arctic viruses share a TMRCA with Arctic-like-1 viruses.