Publications

rapid evolutionary dynamics of structural disorder as a potential driving force for biological divergence in flaviviruses.	protein structure is commonly regarded to be conserved and to dictate function. most proteins rely on conformational flexibility to some degree. are regions that convey conformational flexibility conserved over evolutionary time? can changes in conformational flexibility alter protein function? here, the evolutionary dynamics of structurally ordered and disordered (flexible) regions are investigated genome-wide in flaviviruses, revealing that the amount and location of structural disorder fluctu ...	0	23418179
flavidb: a data mining system for knowledge discovery in flaviviruses with direct applications in immunology and vaccinology.	the flavivirus genus is unusually large, comprising more than 70 species, of which more than half are known human pathogens. it includes a set of clinically relevant infectious agents such as dengue, west nile, yellow fever, and japanese encephalitis viruses. although these pathogens have been studied extensively, safe and efficient vaccines lack for the majority of the flaviviruses.	0	25544857
[kedougou virus (ar d14701): a new arbovirus ("flavivirus") isolated in senegal (author's transl)].		1978	677616
phylogeny of the genus flavivirus.	we undertook a comprehensive phylogenetic study to establish the genetic relationship among the viruses of the genus flavivirus and to compare the classification based on molecular phylogeny with the existing serologic method. by using a combination of quantitative definitions (bootstrap support level and the pairwise nucleotide sequence identity), the viruses could be classified into clusters, clades, and species. our phylogenetic study revealed for the first time that from the putative ancesto ...	1998	9420202
polystyrene derivatives substituted with arginine interact with babanki (togaviridae) and kedougou (flaviviridae) viruses.	outbreaks of new or old diseases appear primarily in tropical zones such as africa, south and central america, or asia. among these diseases, those induced by arboviruses (the best known of which are being yellow fever, dengue, ebola, and sindbis) are under intensive observation by the world health organization. rapid isolation and identification of the viral species is the first step in the diagnosis, study, and control of epidemics. one major problem with the isolation of viruses is capturing ...	2003	12601758
full-length sequencing and genomic characterization of bagaza, kedougou, and zika viruses.	many members of the genus flavivirus are the agents of important diseases of humans, livestock, and wildlife. currently, no complete genome sequence is available for the three african viruses, bagaza, zika, and kedougou viruses, each representing a distinct virus subgroup according to the latest virus classification. in this study, we obtained a complete genome sequence of each of those three viruses and characterized the open reading frames (orfs) with respect to gene sizes, cleavage sites, pot ...	2007	17195954
universal primers that amplify rna from all three flavivirus subgroups.	species within the flavivirus genus pose public health problems around the world. increasing cases of dengue and japanese encephalitis virus in asia, frequent outbreaks of yellow fever virus in africa and south america, and the ongoing spread of west nile virus throughout the americas, show the geographical burden of flavivirus diseases. flavivirus infections are often indistinct from and confused with other febrile illnesses. here we review the specificity of published primers, and describe a n ...	2008	18218114
characterization of a novel flavivirus from mosquitoes in northern europe that is related to mosquito-borne flaviviruses of the tropics.	a novel flavivirus was isolated from mosquitoes in finland, representing the first mosquito-borne flavivirus from northern europe. the isolate, designated lammi virus (lamv), was antigenically cross-reactive with other flaviviruses and exhibited typical flavivirus morphology as determined by electron microscopy. the genomic sequence of lamv was highly divergent from the recognized flaviviruses, and yet the polyprotein properties resembled those of mosquito-borne flaviviruses. phylogenetic analys ...	2009	19570865
structure of yellow fever virus envelope protein domain iii.	the structure of recombinant domain iii of the envelope protein (red3) of yellow fever virus (yfv), containing the major neutralization site, was determined using nmr spectroscopy. the amino acid sequence and structure of the yfv-red3 shows differences from ed3s of other mosquito-borne flaviviruses; in particular, the partially surface-exposed bc loop where methionine-304 and valine-324 were identified as being critical for the structure of the loop. variations in the structure and surface chemi ...	2009	19818466
with reference to mexican flu.		2009	21462392
structure and functionality in flavivirus ns-proteins: perspectives for drug design.	flaviviridae are small enveloped viruses hosting a positive-sense single-stranded rna genome. besides yellow fever virus, a landmark case in the history of virology, members of the flavivirus genus, such as west nile virus and dengue virus, are increasingly gaining attention due to their re-emergence and incidence in different areas of the world. additional environmental and demographic considerations suggest that novel or known flaviviruses will continue to emerge in the future. nevertheless, u ...	2010	19945487
evidence for ribosomal frameshifting and a novel overlapping gene in the genomes of insect-specific flaviviruses.	flaviviruses have a positive-sense, single-stranded rna genome of approximately 11 kb, encoding a large polyprotein that is cleaved to produce approximately 10 mature proteins. cell fusing agent virus, kamiti river virus, culex flavivirus and several recently discovered flaviviruses have no known vertebrate host and apparently infect only insects. we present compelling bioinformatic evidence for a 253-295 codon overlapping gene (designated fifo) conserved throughout these insect-specific flavivi ...	2010	20097399
structural and functional analyses of a conserved hydrophobic pocket of flavivirus methyltransferase.	the flavivirus methyltransferase (mtase) sequentially methylates the n7 and 2'-o positions of the viral rna cap (gpppa-rna → m(7)gpppa-rna → m(7)gpppam-rna), using s-adenosyl-l-methionine (adomet) as a methyl donor. we report here that sinefungin (sin), an adomet analog, inhibits several flaviviruses through suppression of viral mtase. the crystal structure of west nile virus mtase in complex with sin inhibitor at 2.0-å resolution revealed a flavivirus-conserved hydrophobic pocket located next t ...	2010	20685660
genomics and evolution of aedes-borne flaviviruses.	we analysed the complete coding sequences of all recognized species of aedes-borne flavivirus, including previously uncharacterized viruses within the yellow fever virus (yfv), spondweni virus (spov) and dengue virus (denv) groups. two major phylogenetic lineages were revealed: one included the yfv and entebbe bat virus groups, and the other included the denv, spov and culex-borne flavivirus groups. this analysis supported previous evidence that culex-borne flaviviruses have evolved from ancestr ...	2010	19741066
newly recognized mosquito-associated viruses in mainland china, in the last two decades.	there are four principal arboviruses in mainland china. two kinds of them are mosquito-borne viruses, namely japanese encephalitis virus and dengue virus, which lead to japanese encephalitis, and dengue fever/dengue hemorrhagic fever respectively; the other two are tick-borne viruses, namely tick-borne encephalitis virus and crimean-congo hemorrhagic fever virus (also known as xinjiang hemorrhagic fever virus), which contribute to tick-borne encephalitis and xinjiang hemorrhagic fever respective ...	2011	21314994
Tembusu virus in ducks, china.	In China in 2010, a disease outbreak in egg-laying ducks was associated with a flavivirus. The virus was isolated and partially sequenced. The isolate exhibited 87%-91% identity with strains of Tembusu virus, a mosquito-borne flavivirus of the Ntaya virus group. These findings demonstrate emergence of Tembusu virus in ducks.	2011	22000358
development of one-step quantitative reverse transcription pcr for the rapid detection of flaviviruses.	the genus flavivirus includes several pathogenic agents that cause severe illness in humans. re-emergence of west nile virus in europe and continuous spread of certain flaviviruses such as dengue, yellow fever and japanese encephalitis viruses represent a global danger to public health. therefore, a rapid and accurate molecular method is required for diagnostics and epidemiological surveillance of flaviviruses.	2013	23410000
ilheus virus isolation in the pantanal, west-central brazil.	the wetlands of the brazilian pantanal host large concentrations of diverse wildlife species and hematophagous arthropods, conditions that favor the circulation of zoonotic arboviruses. a recent study from the nhecolândia sub-region of pantanal reported serological evidence of various flaviviruses, including west nile virus and ilheus virus (ilhv). according to the age of seropositive horses, at least three flaviviruses, including ilhv, circulated in the brazilian pantanal between 2005 and 2009. ...	2013	23875051
characterization of a novel insect-specific flavivirus from brazil: potential for inhibition of infection of arthropod cells with medically important flaviviruses.	in the past decade, there has been an upsurge in the number of newly described insect-specific flaviviruses isolated pan-globally. we recently described the isolation of a novel flavivirus (tentatively designated 'nhumirim virus'; nhuv) that represents an example of a unique subset of apparently insect-specific viruses that phylogenetically affiliate with dual-host mosquito-borne flaviviruses despite appearing to be limited to replication in mosquito cells. we characterized the in vitro growth p ...	2014	25146007
ecuador paraiso escondido virus, a new flavivirus isolated from new world sand flies in ecuador, is the first representative of a novel clade in the genus flavivirus.	a new flavivirus, ecuador paraiso escondido virus (epev), named after the village where it was discovered, was isolated from sand flies (psathyromyia abonnenci, formerly lutzomyia abonnenci) that are unique to the new world. this represents the first sand fly-borne flavivirus identified in the new world. epev exhibited a typical flavivirus genome organization. nevertheless, the maximum pairwise amino acid sequence identity with currently recognized flaviviruses was 52.8%. phylogenetic analysis o ...	2015	26355096
new insights into flavivirus evolution, taxonomy and biogeographic history, extended by analysis of canonical and alternative coding sequences.	to generate the most diverse phylogenetic dataset for the flaviviruses to date, we determined the genomic sequences and phylogenetic relationships of 14 flaviviruses, of which 10 are primarily associated with culex spp. mosquitoes. we analyze these data, in conjunction with a comprehensive collection of flavivirus genomes, to characterize flavivirus evolutionary and biogeographic history in unprecedented detail and breadth. based on the presumed introduction of yellow fever virus into the americ ...	2015	25719412
an updated checklist of mosquito species (diptera: culicidae) from madagascar.	an updated checklist of 235 mosquito species from madagascar is presented. the number of species has increased considerably compared to previous checklists, particularly the last published in 2003 (178 species). this annotated checklist provides concise information on endemism, taxonomic position, developmental stages, larval habitats, distribution, behavior, and vector-borne diseases potentially transmitted. the 235 species belong to 14 genera: aedeomyia (3 species), aedes (35 species), anophel ...	2016	27101839
nonstructural proteins are preferential positive selection targets in zika virus and related flaviviruses.	the flavivirus genus comprises several human pathogens such as dengue virus (denv), japanese encephalitis virus (jev), and zika virus (zikv). although zikv usually causes mild symptoms, growing evidence is linking it to congenital birth defects and to increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome. zikv encodes a polyprotein that is processed to produce three structural and seven nonstructural (ns) proteins. we investigated the evolution of the viral polyprotein in zikv and in related flaviviruses (d ...	2016	27588756
zikv - cdb: a collaborative database to guide research linking sncrnas and zika virus disease symptoms.	in early 2015, a zika virus (zikv) infection outbreak was recognized in northeast brazil, where concerns over its possible links with infant microcephaly have been discussed. providing a causal link between zikv infection and birth defects is still a challenge. micrornas (mirnas) are small noncoding rnas (sncrnas) that regulate post-transcriptional gene expression by translational repression, and play important roles in viral pathogenesis and brain development. the potential for flavivirus-media ...	2016	27332714
analysis of synonymous codon usage bias in flaviviridae virus.	flaviviridae viruses are single-stranded, positive-sense rna viruses, which threat human constantly mediated by mosquitoes, ticks, and sandflies. considering the recent increase in the prevalence of the family virus and its risk potential, we investigated the codon usage pattern to understand its evolutionary processes and provide some useful data to develop the medications for most of flaviviridae viruses.	2019	31346520