Ecker M, Allison S L, Meixner T, Heinz F X
J Gen Virol. 1999 Jan;80 ( Pt 1):179-185. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-80-1-179.
The epidemiology of tick-borne encephalitis virus was investigated by comparative sequence analysis of virus strains isolated in endemic areas of Europe and Asia. Phylogenetic relationships were determined from the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the major envelope (E) protein of 16 newly sequenced strains and nine previously published sequences. Three genetic lineages could be clearly distinguished, corresponding to a European, a Far Eastern and a Siberian subtype. Amino acids characteristic for each of the subtypes ('signature' amino a cids) were identified and their location in the atomic structure of protein E was determined. The degree of variation between strains within subtypes was low and exhibited a maximum of only 2.2% at the amino acid level. A maximum difference of 5.6% was found between the three subtypes, which is in the range of variation reported for other flaviviruses.
通过对在欧洲和亚洲流行地区分离出的病毒株进行比较序列分析，对蜱传脑炎病毒的流行病学进行了研究。根据16个新测序毒株和9个先前发表序列的主要包膜（E）蛋白的核苷酸和氨基酸序列确定了系统发育关系。可以清楚地区分出三个遗传谱系，分别对应欧洲亚型、远东亚型和西伯利亚亚型。确定了每个亚型特有的氨基酸（“特征”氨基酸），并确定了它们在E蛋白原子结构中的位置。亚型内毒株之间的变异程度较低，氨基酸水平上最大仅为2.2%。在三个亚型之间发现的最大差异为5.6%，这在其他黄病毒报道的变异范围内。
