Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Mar 1;51(1):375.
doi: 10.1007/s11033-024-09252-8.

Molecular characterization of Chikungunya virus recovered from patients in the Maranhão state, Brazil

Antônio Dantas Silva Junior  1 , Bruna Oliveira de Melo  2 , Antonia Khaynnam Silva Costa  2 , Daniela de Jesus Ferreira Costa  2 , Érima Jôyssielly Mendonça Castro  1 , Rosimary de Jesus Gomes Turri  3 , Andrea de Sousa Monteiro  2 , Adrielle Zagmignan  1 , Maria Rosa Quaresma Bomfim  2 , Luís Cláudio Nascimento de Silva  4
Affiliations

Molecular characterization of Chikungunya virus recovered from patients in the Maranhão state, Brazil

Antônio Dantas Silva Junior et al. Mol Biol Rep. .

Abstract

Background: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an arbovirus from the Togaviridae family which has four genotypes: West African (WA), East/Central/South African (ECSA) and Asian/Caribbean lineage (AL) and Indian Ocean Lineage (IOL). The ECSA genotype was first registered in Brazil in Feira de Santana and spread to all Brazilian regions. This study reports the characterization of CHIKV isolates recovered from sera samples of fifty patients from seventeen cities in Maranhão, a state from Brazilian northeast region and part of the Legal Amazon area.

Methods and results: Primers were developed to amplify the partial regions coding structural proteins (E1, E3, E2, 6 K, and Capsid C). The consensus sequences have 2871 bp, covering approximately 24% of the genome. The isolates were highly similar (> 99%) to the ECSA isolate from Feira de Santana (BHI3734/H804698), presenting 30 non-synonymous mutations in E1 (5.95%), 18 in E2 (4.46%), and 1 in E3 (3.03%), taking the BHI3734/H804698 isolate as standard. Although the mutations described have not previously been related to increased infectivity or transmissibility of CHIKV, in silico analysis showed changes in physicochemical characteristics, antigenicity, and B cell epitopes of E1 and E2.

Conclusions: These findings demonstrate the importance of molecular approaches for monitoring the viral adaptations undergone by CHIKV and its geographic distribution.

Keywords: In silico analysis; Arboviruses; Mutations; Phylogenetic analysis; Structural protein.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Yadav M, Dahiya N, Sehrawat N (2023) Mosquito gene targeted RNAi studies for vector control. Funct Integr Genomics 23:1–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10142-023-01072-6/TABLES/1 - DOI
    1. Sharif N, Sarkar MK, Ferdous RN et al (2021) Molecular Epidemiology, Evolution and Reemergence of Chikungunya Virus in South Asia. Front Microbiol 12:689979. https://doi.org/10.3389/FMICB.2021.689979 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Khongwichit S, Chansaenroj J, Chirathaworn C, Poovorawan Y (2021) Chikungunya virus infection: molecular biology, clinical characteristics, and epidemiology in Asian countries. J Biomed Sci 28:1–17. https://doi.org/10.1186/S12929-021-00778-8 - DOI
    1. Torres-Longoria B, Fragoso-Fonseca DE, Núñez-León A et al (2021) Epidemiological surveillance of chikungunya fever in Mexico since its introduction in 2014–2016 and identification of circulating genotypes. Mol Biol Rep 48:1967–1975. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11033-021-06151-0/FIGURES/4 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Amaral JK, Bingham CO, Taylor PC et al (2022) Pathogenesis of chronic chikungunya arthritis: Resemblances and links with rheumatoid arthritis. Travel Med Infect Dis 52:102534. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.TMAID.2022.102534 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources