Summary

The paper presents Filo Five, a genomic database designed to support research on the Filovirus family—including Ebola, Marburg, Sudan, Cuevavirus, and Dianlovirus—which are highly lethal pathogens known for causing hemorrhagic fevers with fatality rates up to 90%. Motivated by the need for better pandemic preparedness and rapid genomic analysis, the project uses JBrowse2 to create an interactive platform that allows researchers to explore, compare, and analyze Filovirus genomes.

The database includes representative genomic tracks and annotations for all major Filovirus species, emphasizing the Zaire and Sudan variants of Ebola and lethal/non-lethal strains of Marburg, which are of particular epidemiological interest. These inclusions enable users to study strain-specific genetic differences that affect pathogenicity, replication, and immune responses.

Key computational tools—MAFFT for multiple sequence alignment and Minimap2 for reference genome alignment—were used to reveal conserved regions, mutations, and structural variations among strains. These alignments are visually represented in JBrowse2, highlighting areas of high conservation (black), partial matches (gray), and genetic variation (purple).

To deepen functional understanding, the team integrated a 3D protein structure visualizer focused on two essential viral proteins: nucleoprotein (NP) and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (L protein). This allows users to correlate genomic mutations with changes in protein structure and function, such as altered replication efficiency or drug susceptibility.

The paper concludes that Filo Five enhances global research capabilities by linking genomic and structural data in a unified, accessible platform. Future expansions may include host-pathogen interaction networks, geographic metadata, and AI tools for variant classification, further advancing efforts toward pandemic surveillance and therapeutic development

Paper

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X7k72QQekChhEPbphoMz25xZ3Q5jnht2d47pxr8xfXg/edit?usp=sharing

Filo Five: Filovirus Genome Database