Substitution rates in hepatitis delta virus.

Substitution rates were estimated for the coding and noncoding regions of the hepatitis delta virus (HDV). The estimated rates of synonymous substitution in HDV were lower than the rates of substitution at non-synonymous sites and in the noncoding region. HDV has lower synonymous substitution rates than the hepatitis C virus, though both are RNA viruses. The relatively low rate of synonymous substitution in HDV may be due to a strong preference of G and C nucleotides at third codon positions. Variation in substitution rate among HDV lineages may be correlated with the clinical development of the HDV-induced hepatitis. The phylogenetic tree inferred for 24 HDV strains reveals similarities between lineages isolated from the same geographic region.