Cooperative interactions in the <it>West Nile virus</it> mutant swarm

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>RNA viruses including arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) exist as highly genetically diverse mutant swarms within individual hosts. A more complete understanding of the phenotypic correlates of these diverse swarms is needed in or...

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Main Authors: Ciota Alexander T, Ehrbar Dylan J, Van Slyke Greta A, Willsey Graham G, Kramer Laura D
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2012-05-01
Series:BMC Evolutionary Biology
Online Access:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/12/58
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spelling doaj-70b578498d4c4a339e97ac06444038232021-09-02T05:35:23ZengBMCBMC Evolutionary Biology1471-21482012-05-011215810.1186/1471-2148-12-58Cooperative interactions in the <it>West Nile virus</it> mutant swarmCiota Alexander TEhrbar Dylan JVan Slyke Greta AWillsey Graham GKramer Laura D<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>RNA viruses including arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) exist as highly genetically diverse mutant swarms within individual hosts. A more complete understanding of the phenotypic correlates of these diverse swarms is needed in order to equate RNA swarm breadth and composition to specific adaptive and evolutionary outcomes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we determined clonal fitness landscapes of mosquito cell-adapted <it>West Nile virus</it> (WNV) and assessed how altering the capacity for interactions among variants affects mutant swarm dynamics and swarm fitness. Our results demonstrate that although there is significant mutational robustness in the WNV swarm, genetic diversity also corresponds to substantial phenotypic diversity in terms of relative fitness <it>in vitro</it>. In addition, our data demonstrate that increasing levels of co-infection can lead to widespread strain complementation, which acts to maintain high levels of phenotypic and genetic diversity and potentially slow selection for individual variants. Lastly, we show that cooperative interactions may lead to swarm fitness levels which exceed the relative fitness levels of any individual genotype.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These studies demonstrate the profound effects variant interactions can have on arbovirus evolution and adaptation, and provide a baseline by which to study the impact of this phenomenon in natural systems.</p> http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/12/58
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Ciota Alexander T
Ehrbar Dylan J
Van Slyke Greta A
Willsey Graham G
Kramer Laura D
spellingShingle Ciota Alexander T
Ehrbar Dylan J
Van Slyke Greta A
Willsey Graham G
Kramer Laura D
Cooperative interactions in the <it>West Nile virus</it> mutant swarm
BMC Evolutionary Biology
author_facet Ciota Alexander T
Ehrbar Dylan J
Van Slyke Greta A
Willsey Graham G
Kramer Laura D
author_sort Ciota Alexander T
title Cooperative interactions in the <it>West Nile virus</it> mutant swarm
title_short Cooperative interactions in the <it>West Nile virus</it> mutant swarm
title_full Cooperative interactions in the <it>West Nile virus</it> mutant swarm
title_fullStr Cooperative interactions in the <it>West Nile virus</it> mutant swarm
title_full_unstemmed Cooperative interactions in the <it>West Nile virus</it> mutant swarm
title_sort cooperative interactions in the <it>west nile virus</it> mutant swarm
publisher BMC
series BMC Evolutionary Biology
issn 1471-2148
publishDate 2012-05-01
description <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>RNA viruses including arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) exist as highly genetically diverse mutant swarms within individual hosts. A more complete understanding of the phenotypic correlates of these diverse swarms is needed in order to equate RNA swarm breadth and composition to specific adaptive and evolutionary outcomes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we determined clonal fitness landscapes of mosquito cell-adapted <it>West Nile virus</it> (WNV) and assessed how altering the capacity for interactions among variants affects mutant swarm dynamics and swarm fitness. Our results demonstrate that although there is significant mutational robustness in the WNV swarm, genetic diversity also corresponds to substantial phenotypic diversity in terms of relative fitness <it>in vitro</it>. In addition, our data demonstrate that increasing levels of co-infection can lead to widespread strain complementation, which acts to maintain high levels of phenotypic and genetic diversity and potentially slow selection for individual variants. Lastly, we show that cooperative interactions may lead to swarm fitness levels which exceed the relative fitness levels of any individual genotype.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These studies demonstrate the profound effects variant interactions can have on arbovirus evolution and adaptation, and provide a baseline by which to study the impact of this phenomenon in natural systems.</p>
url http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/12/58
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