Evolutionary analyses on the HA gene ofpandemic H1N1/09: early findings

The HA protein is responsible for influenza virus attachment and the subsequent fusion of viral and cellular membranes. Antigenic drift is driven by an accumulation of point mutations in the HA. And, the receptor-binding specificity of HA is responsible for the host range restriction of the virus. In April 2009, large outbreaks of novel H1N1 influenza in human population were reported from North America. The pandemic H1N1 virus originated from swine influenza virus. Evolutionary process of the pandemic virus after its introduction to human population remains to be clarified. We conducted phylogenetic analyses constructing a phylogenetic tree for and calculating site-by-site selective pressures in the HA gene. Phylogenetic tree showed that pandemic viruses were not clustered clearly by their geographical location or isolation time in the phylogenetic tree. The virus has been circulating the globe extensively with multiple introductions into most geographical areas. We found 3 sites positively selected in the HA gene for pandemic H1N1 virus. Among them, position 206 is located in an antigenic site. We did not find significant negative selection on any of the receptor binding sites. The virus has been evolving under unique selective pressure.