RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Takikawa, Shingo A1 Engle, Ronald E. A1 Faulk, Kristina N. A1 Emerson, Suzanne U. A1 Purcell, Robert H. A1 Bukh, JensYR 2010 T1 Molecular evolution of GB virus B hepatitis virus during acute resolving and persistent infections in experimentally infected tamarins JF Journal of General Virology, VO 91 IS 3 SP 727 OP 733 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/vir.0.015750-0 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2099, AB GB virus B (GBV-B) causes acute hepatitis in experimentally infected tamarins. We compared evolutionary features in acute resolving and persistent GBV-B infection. We detected no evidence of evolution in four animals with clearance during weeks 9–12, whereas three animals with clearance during weeks 13–26 had several substitutions in their polyprotein sequence. A single tamarin had long-term GBV-B viraemia; analysis of virus recovered at weeks 2, 5, 12, 20, 26, 52 and 104 demonstrated that mutations accumulated over time. Overall, the amino acid substitution rate was 3.5×10−3 and 1.1×10−3 substitutions per site year−1 during weeks 1–52 and 53–104, respectively. Thus, there was a significant decrease in evolution over time, as found for hepatitis C virus. The rate of non-synonymous substitution per non-synonymous site compared with that of synonymous substitution per synonymous site decreased over time, suggesting reduction of positive selective pressure. These data demonstrate that prolonged GBV-B infection is associated with viral evolution., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/vir.0.015750-0