Viral coinfection is shaped by host ecology and virus-virus interactions across diverse microbial taxa and environments.

ABSTRACT: Infection of more than one virus in a host, coinfection, is common across taxa and environments. Viral coinfection can enable genetic exchange, alter the dynamics of infections, and change the course of viral evolution. Yet, a systematic test of the factors explaining variation in viral coinfection across different taxa and environments awaits completion. Here I employ three microbial data sets of virus-host interactions covering cross-infectivity, culture coinfection, and single-cell coinfection (total: 6,564 microbial hosts, 13,103 viruses) to provide a broad, comprehensive picture of the ecological and biological factors shaping viral coinfection. I found evidence that ecology and virus-virus interactions are recurrent factors shaping coinfection patterns. Host ecology was a consistent

SUBMITTER: Diaz-Munoz SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5407056 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature