Rates of viral evolution are linked to host geography in bat rabies.

ABSTRACT: Rates of evolution span orders of magnitude among RNA viruses with important implications for viral transmission and emergence. Although the tempo of viral evolution is often ascribed to viral features such as mutation rates and transmission mode, these factors alone cannot explain variation among closely related viruses, where host biology might operate more strongly on viral evolution. Here, we analyzed sequence data from hundreds of rabies viruses collected from bats throughout the Americas to describe dramatic variation in the speed of rabies virus evolution when circulating in ecologically distinct reservoir species. Integration of ecological and genetic data through a comparative bayesian analysis revealed that viral evolutionary rates were labile following historical jumps between b

SUBMITTER: Streicker DG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3355098 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature