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Updated: May 25, 2026
06:02
Arbovirus Infections As Screening Tools for the Identification of Viral Immunomodulators and Host Antiviral Factors
Published on: September 13, 2018
Specific and nonspecific host adaptation during arboviral experimental evolution.
Isabel S Novella1, John B Presloid, Sarah D Smith
1Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, University of Toledo Health Science Campus, Toledo, Ohio, USA. isabel.novella@utoledo.edu
Journal of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology
|January 18, 2012
Summary
Arboviruses (viruses transmitted by arthropods) evolve slowly due to similar host/vector environments, not disparate ones. Alternating environments reduce genetic variance, compromising adaptability.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Genomics
Background:
- Arboviruses exhibit slow evolutionary rates despite alternating between hosts and vectors.
- Previous hypotheses suggested disparate host/vector environments drive this slow evolution.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the evolutionary dynamics of arboviruses.
- To test the hypothesis that host-vector environment disparity influences arboviral evolution.
- To understand the impact of alternating environments on viral adaptability.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of arboviral genomic data.
- Comparative evolutionary rate assessments.
- Modeling of viral adaptation during host switching.
Main Results:
- Experimental evidence did not support the hypothesis of disparate host/vector environments driving slow arboviral evolution.
- Arboviral evolution appears dominated by one environment or similarity between environments.
- Replication in alternating environments leads to decreased genetic variance and reduced adaptability.
Conclusions:
- Arboviral slow evolution is not driven by disparate host/vector environments.
- Environmental similarity or dominance explains slow evolutionary rates.
- Alternating environments impose an adaptability cost on arboviruses, impacting their evolutionary potential.
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