Large, stable, contemporary interspecies recombination events in circulating human herpes simplex viruses
AM Casto, P Roychoudhury, H Xie… - The Journal of …, 2020 - academic.oup.com
The Journal of infectious diseases, 2020•academic.oup.com
Background The ubiquitous human pathogens, herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1 and HSV-2,
are distinct viral species that diverged approximately 6 million years ago. At least 4 small,
ancient HSV-1× HSV-2 interspecies recombination events have affected the HSV-2 genome,
with recombinants and nonrecombinants at each locus circulating today. However, it is
unknown whether interspecies recombination can affect other loci and whether new
recombinants continue to be generated. Methods Using 255 newly sequenced and 230 …
are distinct viral species that diverged approximately 6 million years ago. At least 4 small,
ancient HSV-1× HSV-2 interspecies recombination events have affected the HSV-2 genome,
with recombinants and nonrecombinants at each locus circulating today. However, it is
unknown whether interspecies recombination can affect other loci and whether new
recombinants continue to be generated. Methods Using 255 newly sequenced and 230 …
Background
The ubiquitous human pathogens, herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1 and HSV-2, are distinct viral species that diverged approximately 6 million years ago. At least 4 small, ancient HSV-1 × HSV-2 interspecies recombination events have affected the HSV-2 genome, with recombinants and nonrecombinants at each locus circulating today. However, it is unknown whether interspecies recombination can affect other loci and whether new recombinants continue to be generated.
Methods
Using 255 newly sequenced and 230 existing HSV genome sequences, we comprehensively assessed interspecies recombination in HSV.
Results
Our findings show that the sizes and locations of interspecies recombination events in HSV-2 are significantly more variable than previously appreciated and that they can impact species-specific T-cell recognition of HSV.
Conclusions
We describe 2 large (>5 kb) recombination events, one of which arose in its current host, demonstrating that interspecies recombination continues to occur today. These results raise concerns about the use of live-attenuated HSV-2 vaccines in high HSV-1 prevalence areas.
Oxford University Press