Meeting Abstract
Considering recent interest in hemorrhagic fevers due to outbreaks of the Filovirus Ebolavirus, bioinformatic analyses tracing the origin and evolution of hemorrhagic potential in Arenaviruses has interesting implications. This project aimed to (a) perform full phylogenetic analysis of known Arenaviruses utilizing both entire genomes and portions of the genomes and (b) search for the origins of hemorrhagic potential within the hemorrhagic strains and/or the loss of hemorrhagic potential within non-hemorrhagic strains. The results of this project clarify the relationships between and evolution of a family of viruses which are poorly organized. The pathogenicity of many of these viruses is unclear, but this project shows that Lujo, one of only two verified hemorrhagic Old World Arenavirus, is a likely relative of the virus responsible for the Old World to New World transition. In addition, the placement of New World hemorrhagic strains on the phylogenetic tree may indicate that the non-hemorrhagic strains experienced a loss of function event. This project will discuss the identification and tracking of genetic traits which allow viruses to create hemorrhagic disease in humans, possibly providing further insight into potential molecular causes of viral hemorrhagic potential.
