Comparison of the genome sequences and the phylogenetic analyses of the GP78 and the Vellore P20778 isolates of Japanese encephalitis virus from India

The nucleotide sequence of the complete genomes of two Indian isolates of J apanese encephalitis virus were compared. One of these isolates, GP78 was o btained from northern India in 1978. The other, the Vellore P20778 isolate, was obtained from southern India in 1958. There was 4.40% nucleotide seque nce divergence between the two Indian isolates that resulted in a 1.86% ami no acid sequence divergence. Phylogenetic analyses showed that in evolution ary terms the north Indian GP78 isolate was close to the SA14 isolate from China whereas the south Indian Vellore P20778 isolate was close to the Beij ing-1 isolate, also from China. The two Indian isolates, however, appear to have evolved independently.