Molecular evolution of the haemagglutinin–neuraminidase gene in human parainfluenza virus type 3 isolates from children with acute respiratory illness in Yamagata prefecture, Japan

Abstract

We conducted detailed genetic analyses of the haemagglutinin–neuraminidase (HN) gene in 272 human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPIV3) isolates from children with acute respiratory illness during the period 2002–2009 in Yamagata prefecture, Japan. A phylogenetic tree reconstructed by the Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo method showed that the strains diversified at around 1946 and that the rate of molecular evolution was 1.10×10−3 substitutions per site per year. Identity was high among the present strains (<90 %) and the pairwise-distances were short. Furthermore, we found four positive selection sites and some key amino acid substitutions in active/catalytic sites of the HN protein. The results suggest that the HN gene of HPIV3 in the present strains evolved rapidly, similarly to other virus genes such as the G gene of respiratory syncytial virus. However, the biological functions and detailed structures of the HN glycoprotein in some of these strains may have been altered.