14 Jan 2020
Scientists say mutations caused by viral recombination events are a major driver of foot-and-mouth disease virus evolution.
Vet Times
Job Title
Image © The Pirbright Institute
New research from The Pirbright Institute has shown different populations of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) swap sections of genetic material at a far higher rate than originally thought.
The information will help scientists understand how the frequency of these changes can shape virus evolution and cause new outbreaks of FMD.
It was previously believed FMDV evolution is mainly driven by mutations caused by small copying errors that accumulate in the RNA genome of the virus when it replicates, known as substitutions.
However, in a new study published in PLOS Pathogens, Pirbright scientists have shown mutations caused by viral recombination events, where different FMD viruses infecting the same animal swap sections of their genome, occur almost as often as substitutions.
The researchers were able to show these recombination events occur by inoculating African buffaloes with two similar FMDV strains and then examining changes in regions of the genomes that code for proteins in the FMDV outer shell, called the capsid.
The host immune system targets capsid proteins to control infection, but changes in those proteins can sometimes prevent the immune system from recognising the virus, allowing it to “escape” and potentially cause a new outbreak.
It was also revealed in the study that levels of recombination were up to 40 times higher in the initial phase of infection compared to later on during the persistent phase, indicating new variants of FMDV are most likely to be created soon after an animal becomes infected.
These results align with previous Pirbright research that demonstrated persistently infected African buffaloes are unlikely to generate new FMDV variations and cause new outbreaks.
This is important because African buffaloes act as a reservoir for FMD, carrying the virus for years without presenting clinical signs.
Pirbright director Bryan Charleston said: “The number of recombination events we saw between the two viruses used in this research was surprising.
“This tells us that recombination is a major driver of FMDV evolution and understanding the mechanisms that determine how new strains are generated could help researchers analyse emerging FMD outbreaks in the field.”
