Recent Molecular Evolution of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV): Subdivision of HMPV A2b Strains

Abstract

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a major etiological agent of acute respiratory infections in humans. HMPV has been circulating worldwide for more than six decades and is currently divided into five agreed-upon subtypes: A1, A2a, A2b, B1, and B2. Recently, the novel HMPV subtypes A2c, A2b1, and A2b2 have been proposed. However, the phylogenetic and evolutionary relationships between these recently proposed HMPV subtypes are unclear. Here, we report a genome-wide phylogenetic and evolutionary analysis of 161 HMPV strains, including unique HMPV subtype A2b strains with a 180- or 111-nucleotide duplication in the G gene (nt-dup). Our data demonstrate that the HMPV A2b subtype contains two distinct subtypes, A2b1 and A2b2, and that the HMPV subtypes A2c and A2b2 may be different names for the same subtype. HMPV A2b strains with a nt-dup also belong to subtype A2b2. Molecular evolutionary analyses indicate that subtypes A2b1 and A2b2 diverged from subtype A2b around a decade after the subtype A2 was divided into the subtypes A2a and A2b. These data support the A2b1 and A2b2 subtypes proposed in 2012 and are essential for the unified classification of HMPV subtype A2 strains, which is important for future HMPV surveillance and epidemiological studies.

An off-season outbreak of human metapneumovirus infections after ending of a COVID-19 lockdown

“…The tree was reconstructed using the GTR +G +I substitution model with 1000 bootstraps. Fourteen complete F gene sequences (thirteen from GenBank, indicated with accession numbers, and one from [10]) were included for the tree topology. Viruses sequenced in this study that contain a 111nucleotide duplication in the G gene that was confirmed by Sanger sequencing of the G gene are underlined.…”

Molecular typing and epidemiologic profiles of human metapneumovirus infection among children with severe acute respiratory infection in Huzhou, China

“…Worldwide, the hMPV prevalence in hospital inpatient and community studies, in children and the elderly, varies from 1.7 to 17%, with a higher prevalence in outpatients compared to inpatients, and in children < 5 years of age compared to older age groups [ 29 , 33 , 34 ], as in other parts of China [ 4 , 10 ]. In this study, 1133 children with severe acute respiratory tract infection in Huzhou from 2016 to 2020 were tested for hMPV RNA, and 56 (4.94%) were positive (negative for other pathogens), indicating that hMPV is an important respiratory pathogen among children in Huzhou.…”

Characterization of prefusion-F-specific antibodies elicited by natural infection with human metapneumovirus

“…Analysis of hMPV genetic lineages identifies two genotypes, A and B (Peret et al, 2002; van den Hoogen et al, 2004). The genotypes are further divided into 5 subgroups (A1, A2a, A2b, B1 and B2) primarily based upon the attachment protein sequence variability (Nao et al, 2020; van den Hoogen et al, 2004; Yang et al, 2013). hMPV has a seasonality of winter and early spring with co-circulation of the two genotypes frequently observed (Kahn, 2006).…”