Hepatitis B virus may be over 19-mn-year-old, reveal songbird fossils
September 29th, 2010 - 3:03 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Sept 29 (ANI): Biologists at The University of Texas at Arlington have found fragments of the modern Hepatitis B virus inside the genomes of songbirds such as the modern-day zebra finch.
“They’ve been sitting there for at least 19 million years, far longer than anyone previously thought this family of viruses had been in existence,” said Cédric Feschotte and Clément Gilbert, associate professor and member of the UT Arlington Genome Biology Group and post-doctoral research associate in the group, respectively.
“Whereas we previously thought of hepadnavirus evolution on time-scales of only a few thousand years, this paper shows that the true time-scale is in fact many million years. Therefore, hepadnavirues, and likely many other viruses as well, are far older than we previously thought,” said Eddie Holmes, a distinguished professor of biology at Penn State University.
Feschotte believes that the slow evolution of the viruses in birds indicates that the viruses are, in the long run, better adapted to their hosts than what is suggested by study of the disease-causing Hepatitis B viruses.
The study could be important for research that might help predict and prevent human viral pandemics originating in bird species.
“We can therefore use this discovery as a guide to screen targeted groups of bird species for the presence of new circulating Hepatitis B-like viruses,” said Gilbert.
The article will be published next week in the online, open access journal PloS. (ANI)
- 8 percent of human genes come from virus - Jan 08, 2010
- Birds inherited sense of smell from dinos: Study - Apr 13, 2011
- Long history of SIV indicates HIV won't quickly become benign in humans - May 22, 2010
- Why humans are more sensitive than chimps to certain viruses - Dec 17, 2010
- Monkey version of HIV older than previously believed - May 22, 2010
- US scientists grow cold-causing virus on sinus tissue - Apr 11, 2011
- Rare bird thought extinct now declared alive - Sep 28, 2011
- La Nina may trigger flu pandemics: Study - Jan 17, 2012
- Brains of birds have a dinosaur source: Study - Apr 13, 2011
- Tiny cricket possesses world's 'biggest' testicles - Nov 11, 2010
- Colourful birds evolve faster - May 14, 2012
- 9 in 10 Delhiites still need to be vaccinated against Hepatitis B Virus: Experts - Dec 04, 2010
- Wallabies, bats harbour 'fossil' genes from deadly human viruses - Jul 03, 2010
- World's first humpback dinosaur discovered - Sep 09, 2010
- New genetic study helps solve Darwin's mystery of evolution of flowering plants - Apr 11, 2011
Tags: biology group, bird species, doctoral research associate, dric, genome biology, genomes, hepatitis b, hepatitis b virus, million years, open access, penn state university, plos, post doctoral research, slow evolution, time scale, time scales, true time, university of texas at arlington, viral pandemics, zebra finch