Synopsis "Hepatitis B virus: Molecular and Codon Dissection"
This book provides a comprehensive exploration of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genomics, focusing on the molecular architecture and diagnostic significance of the S gene. It examines the structural properties of viral surface envelope proteins, the mechanism of viral entry via the NTCP host receptor, and the dynamics of episomal cccDNA transcription. Furthermore, the chapters present a detailed analysis of codon usage bias (CUB) across 146 HBV Genotype D transcripts, evaluating key parameters such as the Effective Number of Codons (ENc), Codon Adaptation Index (CAI), Relative Synonymous Codon Usage (RSCU), and relative dinucleotide abundance. The text investigates the evolutionary forces governing codon preferences, highlighting the dominance of natural selection over mutational pressure, CpG dinucleotide suppression for immune evasion, and the role of programmatic rare codon pausing in co-translational protein folding. Finally, the book evaluates host-pathogen adaptation by comparing HBV codon selection with human tRNA isotype profiles, offering insights into viral translational efficiency and host metabolic balance. Key Features: Provides a thorough exploration of Hepatitis B virus biology, from molecular structure to advanced genomic analysis. Presents detailed analyses of nucleotide composition, codon usage bias, and dinucleotide frequency across HBV Genotype D S gene transcripts. Discusses the diagnostic and clinical significance of the HBsAg "a" determinant and quantitative surface antigen metrics. Introduces evolutionary models including Neutrality plots, Parity Rule 2 (PR2) bias analysis, and ENc-GC3 distributions to delineate mutational and natural selection pressures. Examines host adaptation strategies and tRNA pool alignment to understand viral translational efficiency and immune evasion mechanisms. Toward the end, the book covers the impact of host restriction factors, post-transcriptional tRNA modifications, and translational pausing on viral envelope protein synthesis.
