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Evaluating the evidence for virus/host co-evolution.

Paul M Sharp1, Peter Simmonds

  • 1Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK. paul.sharp@ed.ec.uk

Current Opinion in Virology
|March 24, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Virus evolution timescales are debated, with short-term rates suggesting recent origins, while long-term evolution implies much slower rates over millions of years. Understanding this discrepancy is crucial for accurate evolutionary modeling.

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Published on: September 13, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Virology
  • Molecular evolution

Background:

  • Significant debate exists regarding the timescales of virus evolution.
  • Short-term evolutionary rate calibrations suggest recent viral ancestor dates, contrasting with long-term co-divergence scenarios with hosts over millions of years.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To address the discrepancy between short-term and long-term virus evolution rate estimates.
  • To investigate the plausibility of proposed host-virus co-divergence scenarios.
  • To explore the biological basis for differing evolutionary rates.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of existing data on virus evolution rates.
  • Comparison of short-term and long-term evolutionary rate calibrations.
  • Review of host-virus co-divergence models.

Main Results:

  • Short-term calibrations yield recent ancestor dates, challenging long-term co-divergence hypotheses.
  • Long-term evolutionary rates are potentially much slower than short-term rates.
  • Current models may not adequately explain the observed discrepancies.

Conclusions:

  • The proposed recent timescales for virus evolution are questioned.
  • Host-virus co-divergence may have been prematurely rejected.
  • Further research is needed to understand the biological basis for variable evolutionary rates and develop comprehensive models.