Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232-2581, USA.
Virus Res. 2011 Sep;160(1-2):200-5. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2011.06.014. Epub 2011 Jun 28.
Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is an important cause of acute respiratory illness in children. We determined the complete genome sequence of four strains of HMPV representing each of the four lineages. These sequences were compared with published HMPV genome sequences. Most genes were conserved between the genetic lineages (79.5-99.6%), though nucleotide diversity was greater than amino acid diversity, suggesting functional constraints on mutation. However, the SH and G open reading frames were more variable (mean 76.4% and 59.0% aa identity, respectively), with mostly nonsynonymous changes, suggesting selective pressure on the SH and G proteins. Gene-start regions were largely conserved between genes and viruses, while gene-end sequences were conserved between viruses but not between genes. The SH-G and G-L intergenic regions were extremely long (∼200 nt) and have no defined function, yet were highly conserved within major groups. These findings highlight broadly conserved regions of the HMPV genome and suggest unidentified biological roles for SH and G.
人偏肺病毒（HMPV）是儿童急性呼吸道疾病的重要病因。我们测定了代表四个谱系的四个 HMPV 株的全基因组序列。这些序列与已发表的 HMPV 基因组序列进行了比较。大多数基因在遗传谱系之间是保守的（79.5-99.6%），尽管核苷酸多样性大于氨基酸多样性，提示对突变存在功能限制。然而，SH 和 G 开放阅读框更具变异性（分别为平均 76.4%和 59.0%的 aa 同一性），主要是非同义突变，提示对 SH 和 G 蛋白存在选择压力。基因起始区在基因和病毒之间基本保守，而基因末端序列在病毒之间保守，但不在基因之间保守。SH-G 和 G-L 基因间区非常长（约 200 个核苷酸），没有明确的功能，但在主要群组内高度保守。这些发现突出了 HMPV 基因组广泛保守的区域，并提示 SH 和 G 具有未确定的生物学作用。
