Molecular Phylogeny of Edge Hill Virus Supports its Position in the Yellow Fever Virus Group and Identifies a New Genetic Variant

• Published in: Evolutionary bioinformatics online 2010-06, Vol.2010 (6), p.91-96
• Main Authors: Joanne Macdonald, Michael Poidinger, John S. Mackenzie, Richard C. Russell, Stephen Doggett, Annette K. Broom, Debra Phillips, Joseph Potamski, Geoff Gard, Peter Whelan, Richard Weir, Paul R. Young, Debra Gendle, Sheryl Maher, Ross T. Barnard, Roy A. Hall
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1176-9343; 1176-9343

Edge Hill virus (EHV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus isolated throughout Australia during mosquito surveillance programs. While not posing an immediate threat to the human population, EHV is a taxonomically interesting flavivirus since it remains the only member of the yellow fever virus (YFV) sub-group to be detected within Australia. Here we present both an antigenic and genetic investigation of collected isolates, and confirm taxonomic classification of the virus within the YFV-group. Isolates were not clustered based on geographical origin or time of isolation, suggesting that minimal genetic evolution of EHV has occurred over geographic distance or time within the EHV cluster. However, two isolates showed significant differences in antigenic reactivity patterns, and had a much larger divergence from the EHV prototype (19% nucleotide and 6% amino acid divergence), indicating a distinct subtype or variant within the EHV subgroup.