Effects of host-use traits on RNA virus evolvability

虽然有些病毒可以很容易地转移到感染新的宿主种群，但其他病毒仍然局限于它们的原始宿主。这项研究探讨了导致病毒成为感染少数宿主的专家或攻击各种宿主的多面手的环境因素。这一目标是通过在实验室培养水泡性口炎病毒的实验进化来实现的。 第一个主要目标是确定当病毒适应使用单一宿主与多个宿主时，病毒性状如何进化，特别是进化是否受到限制，使得某些性状必须在其他性状发生变化之前通过自然选择进行修改。第二个主要目标是确定专家型病毒和通用型病毒在进化到新宿主（如人类）上的概率是否不同，以及在宿主外生存的适应性是否改变了成功感染新宿主的可能性。该项目的结果可以应用于几个系统，因为病毒是野生和驯养的动植物种群中的重要疾病媒介。该项目病毒类似于许多媒介传播的人类病毒（如西尼罗河热病毒）;因此，该项目应有助于阐明促进病毒宿主转移到人群中的环境因素。该项目将涉及培训本科生和向纽黑文公立学校推广，特别侧重于招收和辅导少数族裔学生。

Whereas some viruses can easily shift to infect new host populations, other viruses remain confined to their original host. This research examines the environmental factors that cause viruses to be specialists that infect few hosts or generalists that attack a variety of hosts. This goal is accomplished using experimental evolution of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus in laboratory culture. The first major objective is to determine how virus traits evolve when viruses adapt to using single versus multiple hosts, especially whether evolution is constrained such that some traits must be modified by natural selection before others can undergo change. The second major objective is to determine whether specialist and generalist viruses differ in their probability of evolving to emerge on new hosts such as humans, and whether adaptations specifically for surviving outside of hosts alter the likelihood of successfully infecting new hosts. The project results can be applied to several systems because viruses are important disease agents in wild and domesticated populations of animals and plants. The project virus resembles many vector-borne human viruses (such as West Nile Fever Virus); thus, the project should help elucidate environmental factors promoting viral host shifts into human populations. The project will involve the training of undergraduate students and outreach to the New Haven Public Schools with a particular focus on recruiting and mentoring minority students.