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Migratory flyway and geographical distance are barriers to the gene flow of influenza virus among North American birds
Author(s) -
Lam Tommy TsanYuk,
Ip Hon S.,
Ghedin Elodie,
Wentworth David E.,
Halpin Rebecca A.,
Stockwell Timothy B.,
Spiro David J.,
Dusek Robert J.,
Bortner James B.,
Hoskins Jenny,
Bales Bradley D.,
Yparraguirre Dan R.,
Holmes Edward C.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01703.x
Subject(s) - flyway , phylogeography , ecology , biology , gene flow , geographical distance , avian influenza virus , spatial ecology , evolutionary ecology , geography , evolutionary biology , influenza a virus subtype h5n1 , phylogenetics , gene , virus , genetic variation , genetics , population , demography , sociology , habitat , host (biology)
Ecology Letters (2011) 14 : 24–33 Abstract Despite the importance of migratory birds in the ecology and evolution of avian influenza virus (AIV), there is a lack of information on the patterns of AIV spread at the intra‐continental scale. We applied a variety of statistical phylogeographic techniques to a plethora of viral genome sequence data to determine the strength, pattern and determinants of gene flow in AIV sampled from wild birds in North America. These analyses revealed a clear isolation‐by‐distance of AIV among sampling localities. In addition, we show that phylogeographic models incorporating information on the avian flyway of sampling proved a better fit to the observed sequence data than those specifying homogeneous or random rates of gene flow among localities. In sum, these data strongly suggest that the intra‐continental spread of AIV by migratory birds is subject to major ecological barriers, including spatial distance and avian flyway.