Evolutionary genomics of host-use in bifurcating demes of RNA virus phi-6.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Viruses are exceedingly diverse in their evolved strategies to manipulate hosts for viral replication. However, despite these differences, most virus populations will occasionally experience two commonly-encountered challenges: growth in variable host environments, and growth under fluctuating population sizes. We used the segmented RNA bacteriophage ϕ6 as a model for studying the evolutionary genomics of virus adaptation in the face of host switches and parametrically varying population sizes. To do so, we created a bifurcating deme structure that reflected lineage splitting in natural populations, allowing us to test whether phylogenetic algorithms could accurately resolve this 'known phylogeny'. The resulting tree yielded 32 clones at the tips and internal nodes; thes

SUBMITTER: Turner PE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3495861 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature