Host Phylogeny Determines Viral Persistence and Replication in Novel Hosts

Abstract

Pathogens switching to new hosts can result in the emergence of new infectious diseases, and determining which species are likely to be sources of such host shifts is essential to understanding disease threats to both humans and wildlife. However, the factors that determine whether a pathogen can infect a novel host are poorly understood. We have examined the ability of three host-specific RNA-viruses (Drosophila sigma viruses from the family Rhabdoviridae) to persist and replicate in 51 different species of Drosophilidae. Using a novel analytical approach we found that the host phylogeny could explain most of the variation in viral replication and persistence between different host species. This effect is partly driven by viruses reaching a higher titre in those novel hosts most closely related to the original host. However, there is also a strong effect of host phylogeny that is independent of the distance from the original host, with viral titres being similar in groups of related hosts. Most of this effect could be explained by variation in general susceptibility to all three sigma viruses, as there is a strong phylogenetic correlation in the titres of the three viruses. These results suggest that the source of new emerging diseases may often be predictable from the host phylogeny, but that the effect may be more complex than simply causing most host shifts to occur between closely related hosts.

Diversity and Distribution of Hantaviruses in South America

“…Although cross-species transmission events between closely (and distantly) related hosts have been widely reported in hantaviruses, host switching as a primary driving mechanism of hantavirus diversity and distribution is often overlooked in favor of codivergence between virus and host (4,29,30,60,69). Nonetheless, both host geographic distribution and phylogenetic relatedness is known to influence the host-switching potential of many RNA and DNA viruses, even if their relative importance in shaping these dynamics remains uncertain (20,41,81). The cross-species transmission events inferred in the present analysis of the ANDV clade (and all SAmC viruses) indicate that both the geographic proximity of and phylogenetic relatedness between hosts are likely important in shaping the evolutionary dynamics of this group (Fig.…”

The genetic architecture of resistance to virus infection in Drosophila

“…(Longdon et al . 2011). Injected flies were kept on cornmeal–agar food and assayed for infection 13 days postinjection.…”

Simian Immunodeficiency Virus and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Matrix Proteins Specify Different Capabilities To Modulate B Cell Growth

“…Like other viruses, primate lentiviruses such as SIV also had to adapt to their host in order to replicate efficiently (12,13). Many cellular factors vary among different species (14), and it is obvious that viruses tend to cross more readily between more closely related host species (15,16). However, even the genomes of closely related species, such as humans and primates, exhibit multiple differences (17,18), so that adaptation of SIV proteins to the new host are required.…”