Viruses, Vol. 13, Pages 1889: Experimental Evolution of West Nile Virus at Higher Temperatures Facilitates Broad Adaptation and Increased Genetic Diversity

Viruses, Vol. 13, Pages 1889: Experimental Evolution of West Nile Virus at Higher Temperatures Facilitates Broad Adaptation and Increased Genetic Diversity Viruses doi: 10.3390/v13101889 Authors: Rachel L. Fay Kiet A. Ngo Lili Kuo Graham G. Willsey Laura D. Kramer Alexander T. Ciota West Nile virus (WNV, Flaviviridae, Flavivirus) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus introduced to North America in 1999. Since 1999, the Earth’s average temperature has increased by 0.6 °C. Mosquitoes are ectothermic organisms, reliant on environmental heat sources. Temperature impacts vector–virus interactions which directly influence arbovirus transmission. RNA viral replication is highly error-prone and increasing temperature could further increase replication rates, mutation frequencies, and evolutionary rates. The impact of temperature on arbovirus evolutionary trajectories and fitness landscapes has yet to be sufficiently studied. To investigate how temperature impacts the rate and extent of WNV evolution in mosquito cells, WNV was experimentally passaged 12 times in Culex tarsalis cells, at 25 °C and 30 °C. Full-genome deep sequencing was used to compare genetic signatures during passage, and replicative fitness was evaluated before and after passage at each temperature. Our results suggest adaptive potential at both temperatures, with unique temperature-dependent and lineage-specific genetic signatures. Further, higher temperature passage was associated with significant...
Source: Viruses - Category: Virology Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research