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Influenza Evolution
The image below is a visual representation of mutations in the influenza A virus over five seasons. The entire genome of 207 H3N2 influenza viruses from Wadsworth Center's repository was sequenced as part of the Influenza Genome Sequencing Project. Each row shows the changes in a single amino acid position over time. Amino acids that did not exhibit changes are not shown. Rows are grouped by protein and amino acids are color coded, so that mutations can be seen as color changes from left to right along a row. Each column represents a single month, and boundaries between seasons are indicated by gaps between columns. For example, the first row shows that the amino acid in position 5 of the HA1 protein mutated from glycine (G, shown in light green) to valine (V, shown in burgundy) in November 1999 and then back to glycine in November 2001. The study demonstrated the dynamic nature of influenza transmission and evolution.
Credit: E. Ghedin, N.A. Sengamalay, M. Shumway, J. Zaborsky, T. Feldblyum, V. Subbu, D.J. Spiro, J. Sitz, H. Koo, P. Bolotov, D. Dernovoy, T. Tatusova, Y. Bao, K. St George, J. Taylor, D.J. Lipman, C.M. Fraser, J.K. Taubenberger, S.L. Salzburg. Technical assistance at Wadsworth: S. Griesemer, R. Bennett, M. Kleabonas.
The image appeared in Nature 437, 20 October 2005.
