Parallel evolution and enhanced virulence upon in vivo passage of an RNA virus in Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: Virus evolution is strongly affected by antagonistic co-evolution of virus and host. Host immunity positively selects for viruses that evade the immune response, which in turn may drive counter-adaptations in host immune genes. We investigated how host immune pressure shapes virus populations, using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and its natural pathogen Drosophila C virus (DCV), as a model. We performed an experimental evolution study in which DCV was serially passaged for ten generations in three fly genotypes differing in their antiviral RNAi response: wild-type flies and flies in which the endonuclease gene Dicer-2 was either overexpressed or inactivated. All evolved virus populations replicated more efficiently in vivo and were more virulent than the parent

SUBMITTER: Lezcano OM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10757409 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature