Split decomposition A technique to analyze viral evolution

1993

A clustering technique allowing a restricted amount of overlapping and based on an abstract theory of coherent decompositions of finite metrics is used to analyze the evolution of foot-and-mouth disease viruses. The emerging picture is compatible with the existence of viral populations with a quasispecies structure and illustrates various forms of evolution of this virus family. In addition, it allows the correlation of these forms with geographic occurrence.