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. 2022 Mar;14(1):10-29.
doi: 10.1007/s12560-021-09502-z. Epub 2021 Oct 25.

The RNA Secondary Structure Analysis Reveals Potential for Emergence of Pathogenic Flaviviruses

Bibhudutta Mishra  1   2 , Raviprasad Aduri  3
Affiliations

The RNA Secondary Structure Analysis Reveals Potential for Emergence of Pathogenic Flaviviruses

Bibhudutta Mishra et al. Food Environ Virol. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

The Flavivirus genus is divided into four groups: Mosquito-borne flaviviruses, Tick-borne flaviviruses, no-known vector flaviviruses, and Insect specific flaviviruses. Millions of people are affected worldwide every year due to the flaviviral infections. The 5' UTR of the RNA genome plays a critical role in the biology of flaviviruses. To explore any correlation between the topology of the 5' UTR and pathogenesis, a global scale study of the RNA secondary structure of different groups of flaviviruses has been conducted. We found that most of the pathogenic flaviviruses, irrespective of their mode of transmission, tend to form a Y shaped topology in the Stem loop A of the 5' UTR. Some of the current non-pathogenic flaviviruses were also observed to form Y shaped structure. Based on this study, it has been proposed that the flaviviruses having the Y shaped topology in their 5' UTR regions may have the potential to become pathogenic.

Keywords: Flavivirus; Pathogenesis; RNA secondary structure; RNA structure analysis; UTRs.

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