DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Characterizing the genetic basis of virus adaptation to genotypes of its' mammalian host

论文研究：表征病毒适应哺乳动物宿主基因型的遗传基础

• 批准号: 0910052
• 负责人: Wayne Potts
• 金额: $ 1.43万
• 依托单位: University of Utah
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-06-01 至 2011-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0910052&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Characterizing; genetic; basis

When a pathogen is transferred to an alternative host, its virulence may increase in the alternative host, while attenuating in the original host, a process that is used to make attenuated vaccines. This general finding demonstrates that pathogens can quickly adapt to different hosts and provides a powerful experimental tool to characterize pathogen adaptation. This project uses serial passage methodology to explore the relationship between pathogen adaptation and host genetic diversity and increase understanding of the underlying genetic causes of evolution of virulence in nature. Understanding pathogen evolution has broad basic and applied relevance to health, including biomedical problems in domestic animals, wildlife, and people, such as cancer, autoimmunity, emerging disease, and vaccine design. For instance, this research will quantify the disease-associated risks of low genetic diversity, which could lead to improved captive breeding designs that increase the viability of endangered species and to increased pathogen resistance of domestic livestock. Undergraduates and the graduate student CoPI will receive research-based training through this research, and the CoPI will continue educational presentations in public schools.

当病原体转移到替代宿主时，其毒力可能在替代宿主中增加，而在原始宿主中减弱，这是用于制备减毒疫苗的过程。这一普遍发现表明，病原体可以迅速适应不同的宿主，并提供了一个强大的实验工具来表征病原体适应。本项目采用连续传代方法，探索病原菌适应性与宿主遗传多样性之间的关系，并增加对自然界毒力进化的潜在遗传原因的理解。了解病原体的进化与健康有着广泛的基础和应用相关性，包括家畜、野生动物和人类的生物医学问题，如癌症、自身免疫、新出现的疾病和疫苗设计。例如，这项研究将量化低遗传多样性的疾病相关风险，这可能导致改进圈养繁殖设计，提高濒危物种的生存能力，并提高家畜的病原体抵抗力。本科生和研究生CoPI将通过这项研究接受基于研究的培训，CoPI将继续在公立学校进行教育演示。