Chapters authored
Prediction of Ebolavirus Genomes Encoded MicroRNA-Like Small RNAs Using Bioinformatics Approaches
Recent findings revealed that certain viruses encoded microRNA-like small RNAs using the RNA interference machinery in the host cells. However, the function of these virus-encoded microRNA-like small RNAs remained unclear, and whether these microRNA-like small RNAs were involved in the replication of the virus and viral infection was still disputable. In this chapter, the negative-sense RNA genome of Ebola virus (EBOV) was scanned using bioinformatics tools to predict the EBOV-encoded microRNA-like small RNAs. Then, the potential influence of viral microRNA-like small RNAs on the viral immune evasion, host cellular signaling pathway, and epigenetic regulation of antiviral defense mechanism were also detected by the reconstructed regulatory network of target genes associated with viral encoded microRNA-like small RNAs. In this analysis, EBOV-encoded microRNA-like small RNAs were proposed to inhibit the host immune response factors, probably facilitating the evasion of EBOV from the host defense mechanisms. In conclusion, systematic investigation of microRNA-like small RNAs in EBOV genome may shed light on the underlying molecular mechanisms of the pathological process of Ebola virus disease (EVD).
Part of the book: Ebola
A Genomic Landscape of Haplotype Diversity and Signatures of Phylogeographic Distribution in Zaire Ebolavirus during the 2014 EVD Epidemic
The Ebola virus (EBOV) disease epidemic from 2013 to 2015 is the largest in history, affecting multiple countries in West Africa. Genome sequencing of EBOV has revealed extensive genetic variation and mutation rate. The evolution and the variations among genotypes of EBOV observed remain low, which suggests that the viral haplotypes may be common in this transmission. To address this hypothesis, we investigated the genomic portrait of haplotype diversity in EBOV from 1976 to the 2014 outbreaks. We obtained 176 haplotypes in 305 gene-coding sequences of EBOV and found that the Hap8 in multiple viral haplotypes is the major epidemic lineage in the 2014 Sierra Leone outbreak. The phylogeographic analysis of EBOV transmission in Sierra Leone during 2014 outbreaks indicated that the genetic flow in EBOV was no more likely to occur within or without populations and the correlation between genetic and geographical distance is not significant. Our study first detected the diversity of viral haplotypes with systematic calculation of phylogeographic distribution in EBOV. This observation highlighted how Ebola virus is substantially different in virulence or transmissibility in comparison to the virus lineages associated with 2014 outbreaks in Sierra Leone, which provides a clue to understand the 2014 EBOV spreading.
Part of the book: Ebola