Key result
Homologous recombination in negative sense RNA viruses is generally rare or absent, and most reported events are likely artificial due to lab contamination or inappropriate bioinformatics methods.
Reports of homologous recombination in negative sense RNA viruses should be interpreted with caution as they are often artifacts of lab contamination or bioinformatics methods.
Caution urged in reporting recombination events in negative-sense RNA viruses; leaves open the true rate of authentic natural occurrences.
Recombination is an important process that influences biological evolution at many different levels. More and more homologous recombination events have been reported among negative sense RNA viruses recently. While sporadic authentic examples indicate that homologous recombination does occur, recombination seems to be generally rare or even absent in most negative sense RNA viruses, and most of the homologous recombination events reported in the literature were likely generated artificially due to lab contamination or inappropriate bioinformatics methods. Homologous recombination in negative sense RNA viruses should be reported with caution in the future, and only after stringent quality control efforts. Moreover, co-infection experiments should be performed to confirm whether recombination can occur.
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Han et al. (2011) conducted a review in Negative sense RNA viruses. Homologous recombination was evaluated. Homologous recombination in negative sense RNA viruses is generally rare or absent, and most reported events are likely artificial due to lab contamination or inappropriate bioinformatics methods.
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