Title
Synonymous Mutations at the Beginning of the Influenza A Virus Hemagglutinin Gene Impact Experimental Fitness
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology; Program in Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology; Department of Medicine; Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems; Schiffer Lab
Publication Date
2018-04-13
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Biochemistry | Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | Genetic Phenomena | Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutics | Medicinal-Pharmaceutical Chemistry | Molecular Biology | Nucleic Acids, Nucleotides, and Nucleosides | Structural Biology
Abstract
The fitness effects of synonymous mutations can provide insights into biological and evolutionary mechanisms. We analyzed the experimental fitness effects of all single-nucleotide mutations, including synonymous substitutions, at the beginning of the influenza A virus hemagglutinin (HA) gene. Many synonymous substitutions were deleterious both in bulk competition and for individually isolated clones. Investigating protein and RNA levels of a subset of individually expressed HA variants revealed that multiple biochemical properties contribute to the observed experimental fitness effects. Our results indicate that a structural element in the HA segment viral RNA may influence fitness. Examination of naturally evolved sequences in human hosts indicates a preference for the unfolded state of this structural element compared to that found in swine hosts. Our overall results reveal that synonymous mutations may have greater fitness consequences than indicated by simple models of sequence conservation, and we discuss the implications of this finding for commonly used evolutionary tests and analyses.
Keywords
deep mutational scanning, experimental evolution, influenza A virus, selection, synonymous mutations
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/j.jmb.2018.02.009
Source
J Mol Biol. 2018 Apr 13;430(8):1098-1115. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2018.02.009. Epub 2018 Feb 18. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Journal of molecular biology
Related Resources
PubMed ID
29466705
Repository Citation
Canale, Aneth S.; Venev, Sergey V.; Whitfield, Troy W.; Caffrey, Daniel R.; Marasco, Wayne A.; Schiffer, Celia A.; Kowalik, Timothy F.; Jensen, Jeffrey D.; Finberg, Robert W.; Zeldovich, Konstantin B.; Wang, Jennifer P.; and Bolon, Daniel N., "Synonymous Mutations at the Beginning of the Influenza A Virus Hemagglutinin Gene Impact Experimental Fitness" (2018). Schiffer Lab Publications. 27.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/schiffer/27