Faculty of Science
Microbiology and Immunology

Evolutionary refinement of the ZIKV 5′ UTR dictates a trade-off between RNA stability and promoter accessibility

Schematic of RNA structure

Publication Date

Author(s)

Alex B. Wang, Quinn H. Abram, Carolina Camargo, Trisha R. Barnard, and Selena M. Sagan

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an RNA virus that presents a global health threat associated with severe neurological complications. In this study, the authors explore how evolution in non-coding regions of the viral genome affects the overall fitness of ZIKV. The authors identified four distinct evolutionary variants and observed that non-coding regions underwent significant structural adaptations, balancing the virus’s stability with its ability to remain accessible to the viral replication machinery. This work demonstrates that evolutionary pressures act not only on coding sequences, but also within non-coding regions, to determine viral fitness. 

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Microbiology and Immunology

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