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The Nipah virus (NiV), a highly pathogenic RNA virus recognized by the World Health Organization as an epidemic threat, poses serious public health concerns due to its high mortality rate and human-to-human transmission capability. This study aims to investigate the presence and distribution of mirror repeats (MRs)—a class of repetitive DNA elements characterized by symmetrical sequences—within the complete Nipah virus (NiV) genome using a manual bioinformatics approach. The 18,246-base genome was segmented into 500 bp fragments, and BLAST alignment was conducted between each fragment and its reverse complement to detect MRs. A total of 401 mirror repeats were identified, comprising 375 perfect and 26 imperfect repeats. Filtering for perfect mirror repeats longer than 10 bp yielded 29 significant motifs, of which 24 contained spacer elements. Comparative analysis with other RNA viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, Zika virus (ZIKV), Marburg virus (MARV), and Ebola virus (EBOV), revealed both conserved and unique mirror repeats, suggesting potential evolutionary or functional roles in genome organization, replication, or regulation. Notably, the selected mirror repeats identified in Nipah virus (NiV) were also detected in Zika virus (ZIKV) but were absent in Marburg (MARV), Ebola (EBOV), and SARS-CoV-2, indicating a shared genomic feature between Nipah (NiV) and Zika viruses (ZIKV) that requires further investigation for biological significance and therapeutic relevance.

Keywords: Nipahvirus, Mirror repeats, BLAST, Bioinformatics, Genome Analysis