Variable evolutionary routes to host establishment across repeated rabies virus host shifts among bats.

ABSTRACT: Determining the genetic pathways that viruses traverse to establish in new host species is crucial to predict the outcome of cross-species transmission but poorly understood for most host-virus systems. Using sequences encoding 78% of the rabies virus genome, we explored the extent, repeatability and dynamic outcome of evolution associated with multiple host shifts among New World bats. Episodic bursts of positive selection were detected in several viral proteins, including regions associated with host cell interaction and viral replication. Host shifts involved unique sets of substitutions, and few sites exhibited repeated evolution across adaptation to many bat species, suggesting diverse genetic determinants over host range. Combining these results with genetic reconstructions of the de

SUBMITTER: Streicker DG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3511767 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature