Genome Sequence Diversity and Clues to the Evolution of Variola (Smallpox) Virus

@article{Esposito2006GenomeSD,
  title={Genome Sequence Diversity and Clues to the Evolution of Variola (Smallpox) Virus},
  author={Joseph J. Esposito and Scott A. Sammons and A. Michael Frace and John D Osborne and Melissa A. Olsen-Rasmussen and Ming Zhang and Dhwani Govil and Inger K Damon and Richard L Kline and Miriam T. Laker and Yu Li and Geoffrey L. Smith and Hermann Meyer and James W Leduc and Robert M. Wohlhueter},
  journal={Science},
  year={2006},
  volume={313},
  pages={807 - 812}
}
Comparative genomics of 45 epidemiologically varied variola virus isolates from the past 30 years of the smallpox era indicate low sequence diversity, suggesting that there is probably little difference in the isolates' functional gene content. Phylogenetic clustering inferred three clades coincident with their geographical origin and case-fatality rate; the latter implicated putative proteins that mediate viral virulence differences. Analysis of the viral linear DNA genome suggests that its… 
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144 Citations
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144 Citations

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A comprehensive analysis of the genomic changes leading to gene truncation and fragmentation was able to detect some of the remnants of these evolutionary processes still present in orthopoxvirus genomes and suggests that these viruses are under continual adaptation due to changes in their environment.
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It was found that the insertion and deletion of small pieces of DNA were common events among these poxviruses, and some of the VARV and VACV indels clearly did not fit the expected phylogenetic tree patterns.
On the origin of smallpox: Correlating variola phylogenics with historical smallpox records
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Analysis of concatenated single nucleotide polymorphisms from genome sequences of 47 VARV isolates with broad geographic distributions indicates that the divergence of alastrim and variola major occurred earlier than previously believed.
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