Research Starter Grant: Determining the contribution of C to T mutation to the overall mutation rate of a model single-stranded DNA virus

许多单链DNA(SsDNA)病毒的成功出现似乎是由于快速的进化速度，这必须由高突变率驱动。然而，由于单链DNA病毒利用宿主细胞的高保真DNA聚合酶进行复制，因此目前尚不清楚单链DNA病毒如何快速变异。一个不涉及聚合酶错误的突变来源是DNA碱基的自发化学降解。由于单链DNA病毒比单链RNA病毒花费更多的时间，它们的DNA碱基更容易受到氧化损伤。最常见的这种损伤是胞嘧啶脱氨基为尿嘧啶，当DNA复制时，这可能导致胞嘧啶突变为胸腺嘧啶。已经证明，在单链DNA病毒的长期进化过程中，其C-T转换率远高于预期，本项目将研究单链DNA病毒较高的突变率是否确实是由较高的C-T突变率引起的。将测定单链DNA病毒模型噬菌体phiX174中胞嘧啶对其他碱基的绝对和相对突变率。这项工作的智力价值在于其新颖的胞嘧啶特异性突变分析，并将表型突变分析与突变累积研究相结合。这项研究有可能产生重大的更广泛的影响。增加对单链DNA病毒进化的了解，以及它是否偏向于胞嘧啶突变，将允许设计更复杂但生物学上现实的突变模型，这对于准确地对动植物新出现的单链DNA病毒进行分子流行病学是必要的。由于细胞基因组也显示出由于化学降解(特别是在高转录基因中，花费大量时间单链)发生突变的证据，这些更复杂的核苷酸替代模型可能被证明在真核基因的生物信息学分析中是有用的。最重要的是，可以利用对单链DNA突变偏向的更多了解来对抗这些新出现的病原体目前和未来的暴发。此外，该项目有助于在研究生和本科阶段(与道格拉斯科学、数学和工程领域妇女项目合作)培养和代表妇女从事科学工作。

The successful emergence of many single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) viruses appears to be due to fast evolutionary rates, which must be driven by high mutation rates. However, it is not known how ssDNA viruses could mutate rapidly, given that they replicate by using the high-fidelity DNA polymerases of their host cells. One source of mutation that does not involve polymerase errors is spontaneous chemical degradation of DNA bases. Because ssDNA viruses spend more time single-stranded than single-stranded RNA viruses, their DNA bases are more susceptible to oxidative damage. The most frequent kind of such damage is the deamination of cytosine into uracil, which can lead to mutations of cytosine to thymine when the DNA is replicated. It has already been shown that ssDNA viruses have much higher than expected rates of C to T transitions during their long-term evolution, and this project will investigate whether or not the higher mutation rates of ssDNA viruses is indeed caused by higher C to T mutation rates. The absolute and relative mutation rate of cytosine to the other bases in a model ssDNA virus, bacteriophage phiX174, will be determined. The intellectual merit of this work is its novel cytosine-specific mutation assay, and the combination of phenotypic mutation assays with mutation accumulation studies. This research has the potential for significant broader impacts. An increased understanding of ssDNA viral evolution, and whether or not it is biased towards mutation at cytosines, will allow the design of more complex, but biologically realistic models of mutation that are necessary for accurate molecular epidemiology of emerging ssDNA viruses of plants and animals. As cellular genomes also show evidence of mutation due to chemical degradation (especially in highly transcribed genes, which spend significant time single stranded), these more complex nucleotide substitution models might prove useful in bioinformatic analyses of eukaryotic genes. Most importantly, increased understanding of ssDNA mutational biases could be exploited to combat current and future outbreaks of these emerging pathogens. Additionally, this project contributes to the education and representation of women in science on both graduate and undergraduate levels (in collaboration with the Douglass Project for Women in Science, Math and Engineering).