Phylogeny and evolution of porcine parvovirus

Porcine parvovirus (PPV), a member of the genus Parvovirus, family Parvoviridae, is a significant causative agent in porcine reproductive failure, causing serious economic losses in the swine industry. Previous phylogenetic studies based on the NS1 or VP2 genes indicated that current PPV strains diverged 30 years ago and that VP2 was under neutral or positive selection. Our analysis of NS1, VP2 and complete ORFs indicated that the most recent common ancestor of PPV strains existed about 250 years ago and that the 127-nt repeat in the 3′NTR was present in viruses of some subclades that evolved about 80 years ago. Nucleotide substitution rates of NS1 and VP2 genes were 3.03 × 10−5 and 1.07 × 10−4, respectively. Both the NS1 and VP2 proteins were under purifying selection and recombination did not contribute to the genetic diversity of PPV. As expected, surface amino acids are hydrophilic and make up the majority of mutations in the VP2 protein; residues in VP2 interfaces were substituted gradually, often in conjunction with complementary substitutions in the neighboring VP2.