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Volume 21, Number 4—April 2015
Research

Sequence Variability and Geographic Distribution of Lassa Virus, Sierra Leone

Tomasz A. Leski1Comments to Author , Michael G. Stockelman1, Lina M. Moses, Matthew Park, David A. Stenger, Rashid Ansumana, Daniel G. Bausch, and Baochuan Lin
Author affiliations: Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA (T.A. Leski, M.G. Stockelman, D.A. Stenger, B. Lin); Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA (L.M. Moses); Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans (L.M. Moses, D.G Bausch), Thomas Jefferson High School, Alexandria, Virginia, USA (M. Park); Mercy Hospital Research Laboratory, Bo, Sierra Leone (R. Ansumana); Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK (R. Ansumana); Njala University, Bo (R. Ansumana)

Main Article

Figure 2

Phylogenetic analysis of Lassa virus isolates from Sierra Leone based on partial nucleoprotein (NP) gene sequences. The homologous NP fragments of 621 nt were aligned. The isolate Z-158, which originated from Macenta district in Guinea, was used as outgroup based on the previous phylogenetic analyses to root the tree. The 50% majority rule consensus tree was estimated by using Bayesian Inference method implemented in MrBayes software (32) using the Tamura 3-parameter substitution model with disc

Figure 2. Phylogenetic analysis of Lassa virus isolates from Sierra Leone based on partial nucleoprotein (NP) gene sequences. The homologous NP fragments of 621 nt were aligned. The isolate Z-158, which originated from Macenta district in Guinea, was used as outgroup based on the previous phylogenetic analyses to root the tree. The 50% majority rule consensus tree was estimated by using Bayesian Inference method implemented in MrBayes software (32) using the Tamura 3-parameter substitution model with discrete γ-distributed rate variation. The strain labels contain information on the country of origin (SL, Sierra Leone; GUI, Guinea), strain designation, village or town of origin, type of isolate (H, human; R, rodent), and year of isolation. The numbers next to the branches indicate the posterior probability of particular clades. The clades as defined in this study (clades A, B, and C) are also indicated next to the appropriate branches. Scale bar indicates substitutions per site.

Main Article

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1These authors contributed equally to this article.

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