Release date: 2014-11-03
Beijing time on the 29th news, according to foreign media reports, the United States Buffalo University scientists successfully revealed the family history of Ebola virus. The study found that the common ancestor of the Ebola virus and its closely related close relative Marburg virus is a linear virus. This linear virus has a long history, dating back at least 16 million to 23 million years, far beyond the expectations of scientists. Scientists point out that this finding helps find new ways to develop Ebola vaccines. In addition, this discovery also rewrites Ebola's family history. Studies have found that the linear virus may have appeared in the Miocene, when the evolutionary branch that eventually led to the formation of Ebola and Marburg virus has emerged. The study was published in the September issue of PeerJ.
This new study deepens scientists' knowledge of linear viruses. Experts once thought that the linear virus appeared about 10,000 years ago, roughly the same time as the rise of agriculture. The new study traces the history of the linear virus to the period of the rise of Daxie. Dr. Drake Taylor, a lead researcher and professor of biology at the University of Buffalo, said: "The history of linear viruses goes far beyond what was previously predicted. Millions of years ago, linear viruses interacted with mammals."
Based on research papers published in PeerJ magazine, it is further understood that the comparative evolution of Ebola and Marburg viruses can influence the design of vaccines and procedures for targeting emerging pathogens. However, this study did not determine the history of the modern Ebola virus. The study found that both Ebola and Marburg viruses are members of the linear virus family, and their common ancestor has a long history dating back at least 16 million to 23 million years ago. During the course of the study, Dr. Jeremy Bruen, a co-author of Taylor and research papers and a professor of biology at the University of Buffalo, analyzed the "gene fossils" of the virus. The so-called genetic fossil refers to the genetic material group of animals infected with viruses and other organisms.
The first outbreak of the Ebola virus was in 1976. Scientists have been poorly aware of the history of this virus, as is the case with the Marburg virus. In 1967, scientists first discovered the Marburg virus on the human body. In October, a medical worker in Uganda died of the Marburg virus. Taylor said that understanding the history of the virus helps prevent disease. If researchers want to develop a vaccine that can effectively prevent Ebola and Marburg virus infection, they need to understand the evolutionary history of the virus, which is very important.
Taylor pointed out that deepening the understanding of the linear virus helps to lock the host of undiscovered pathogens associated with the Ebola and Marburg viruses. “When we first searched for the Ebola virus host, scientists chose the rainforest to focus on mammals, insects, and other organisms. The deeper our understanding of the evolution of the linear virus-host interaction, the greater the To understand the factors that may have an impact in this system."
Scientists have pointed out in research papers that they found genetic residues similar to those of linear viruses in various rodents. At the same location in the genomes of four different rodents, two hamsters and two voles, they discovered a fossil called "VP35." This finding means that this genetic material may have emerged during the Miocene or earlier periods, from 16 million to 23 million years ago, when the common ancestors of these rodents advanced into distinct populations. In other words, the known family of linear viruses possess at least as long a history as the common ancestors of hamsters and voles.
Taylor said: "The genomes of these rodents have billions of base pairs, and the probability that a virus's genes will be implanted in the same location in different populations at different times is extremely low. The common ancestors of these rodents may have occurred. This small probability event."
The genetic material in the VP35 gene fossils is closer to the Ebola virus than to the Marburg virus, indicating that the evolutionary route that led to these viruses has begun to branch in the Miocene. The new study builds on Taylor's previous research with Bruen and other biologists, using viral fossils to assess the entire family of linear viruses, and concluded that the virus has more than 10 million years of history. These studies used only fossils of the "distant relationship" with Ebola and Marburg virus, which led researchers to be unable to determine the history of these viruses. The study by Taylor et al. found that filling the "fossil cleft" of the virus helped scientists study the historical relationship between the Ebola virus and the Marburg virus.
Source: Sina
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