Abstract
The arthropod-borne Zika virus (ZIKV) is currently causing a major international public health threat in the Americas. This study describes the isolation of ZIKV from the plasma of a 29-year-old female traveler that developed typical symptoms, like rash, fever and headache upon return from Suriname. The complete genome sequence including the 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions was determined and phylogenetic analysis showed the isolate clustering within the Asian lineage, close to other viruses that have recently been isolated in the Americas. In addition, the viral quasispecies composition was analyzed by single molecule real time sequencing, which suggested a mutation frequency of 1.4 × 10−4 for this ZIKV isolate. Continued passaging of the virus in cell culture led to the selection of variants with mutations in NS1 and the E protein. The latter might influence virus binding to cell surface heparan sulfate.
Highlights
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne member of the Flaviviridae family
We report and analyze the complete genome sequence and quasispecies distribution of a ZIKV strain from Suriname isolated from the plasma of a 29-year-old female traveler who returned to the Netherlands and exhibited typical symptoms of ZIKV infection
We report the isolation and analysis of a ZIKV strain from a traveler returning from Suriname with typical symptoms of Zika
Summary
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne member of the Flaviviridae family. ZIKV has a positive-stranded RNA genome that is capped, lacks a poly(A) tail and has a typical flavivirus genome organization. It contains a single open reading frame that encodes the 3 structural and 7 nonstructural proteins in the form of a polyprotein. The RNA-dependent RNA polymerases of RNA viruses lack proofreading ability, leading to high mutation rates in comparison to cellular organisms[16] These high mutation rates result in a high genetic variation within the virus population, the so-called quasispecies, a set of genetically related viruses closely distributed around a consensus sequence[17, 18]. Escape is important to better understand ZIKV infection and pathogenesis, and to aid development of vaccines and therapeutics
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