Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Adaptation in Different Host Environments and Existence of Quasispecies

Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Adaptation in Different Host Environments and Existence of Quasispecies

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A highly virulent strain (Hypr) of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) was serially subcultured in the mammalian porcine kidney stable Ear (PS) and Ixodes ricinus tick (IRE/CTVM19) cell lines, producing three viral variants.These variants exhibited distinct plaque sizes and virulence in a mouse model.Comparing the full-genome sequences of all variants, several nucleotide changes were identified in different genomic regions.Furthermore, different sequential variants were revealed to co-exist within one sample as quasispecies.Interestingly, the above-mentioned nucleotide changes found within the Rocker Recliner with Power whole genome sequences of the new variants were present alongside the nucleotide sequence of the parental strain, which was represented as a minority quasispecies.

These observations further imply that TBEV exists as a heterogeneous population that contains virus variants pre-adapted to reproduction in different environments, probably enabling virus survival in ticks and mammals.