Journal
INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION
Volume 20, Issue -, Pages 418-421Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2013.09.029
Keywords
Co-evolution; Hepatitis C virus; Phylogeny; SNPs; IFNL3
Categories
Funding
- United Kingdom Medical Research Council
- MRC [G1002297] Funding Source: UKRI
- Medical Research Council [G1002297] Funding Source: researchfish
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Specific human polymorphisms, most commonly found in Central Africa, can predict the success of drug treatment against the hepatitis C virus (HCV), a significant and globally-distributed human pathogen. However, this association is only found for a subset of HCV genotypes. Despite receiving considerable attention in the medical and virological literature, no evolutionary explanation for this curious pattern has been put forward. Here we suggest that the 'drug treatment resistance' phenotype exhibited today by some HCV genotypes evolved hundreds to thousands of years ago in response to human genetic variation local to Central Africa: an adaptation that has since accrued a new function in the era of anti-viral drug treatment. This could represent one of the oldest known examples of viral exaptation at the population level. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B. V.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available