Molecular evolution and adaptation of ranavirus

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The emergence of infectious disease with a broad host range can have a vast impact onpopulations and is a threat to biodiversity. In recent years, amphibians have experienced hugedeclines on a global level; one of the reasons for this are a group of pathogens belonging tothe genus Ranavirus. Ranaviruses have the ability to infect a broad host range spanning fish,reptiles and amphibians, they are expanding to regions previously undetected and have adiverse range of viral species making them OIE notifiable pathogens. With lineages emergingacross Europe, and the recent discovery of the capability for subclinical infections, it isimperative that we understand more about these emerging pathogens.Although ranaviruses have been identified as the cause of mortality events across the globe,understanding their host and geographical range is hampered by a lack of viralcharacterisation. Subclinical infections mean a reassessment of ranaviral prevalence, on themodes of transmission i.e. is the re-occurrence of ranaviruses each year due to long-standingcryptic infections, are they responsible for the spread of the virus globally, and viralcharacterisation i.e. are subclinical infections caused by new ranavirus species? Mydoctoral research will centre around these questions looking at carriers, both in the UK and in the animal trade, as well as generate new genomic data, on an unprecedented scale, that will provide the missing gaps needed to reconstruct the evolutionary history of jumps between species and localities.