Effect of host species on the distribution of mutational fitness effects for an RNA virus.

Knowledge about the distribution of mutational fitness effects (DMFE) is essential for many evolutionary models. In recent years, the properties of the DMFE have been carefully described for some microorganisms. In most cases, however, this information has been obtained only for a single environment...

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Main Authors: Jasna Lalić, José M Cuevas, Santiago F Elena
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011-11-01
Series:PLoS Genetics
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3219607?pdf=render
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author Jasna Lalić
José M Cuevas
Santiago F Elena
author_facet Jasna Lalić
José M Cuevas
Santiago F Elena
author_sort Jasna Lalić
collection DOAJ
description Knowledge about the distribution of mutational fitness effects (DMFE) is essential for many evolutionary models. In recent years, the properties of the DMFE have been carefully described for some microorganisms. In most cases, however, this information has been obtained only for a single environment, and very few studies have explored the effect that environmental variation may have on the DMFE. Environmental effects are particularly relevant for the evolution of multi-host parasites and thus for the emergence of new pathogens. Here we characterize the DMFE for a collection of twenty single-nucleotide substitution mutants of Tobacco etch potyvirus (TEV) across a set of eight host environments. Five of these host species were naturally infected by TEV, all belonging to family Solanaceae, whereas the other three were partially susceptible hosts belonging to three other plant families. First, we found a significant virus genotype-by-host species interaction, which was sustained by differences in genetic variance for fitness and the pleiotropic effect of mutations among hosts. Second, we found that the DMFEs were markedly different between Solanaceae and non-Solanaceae hosts. Exposure of TEV genotypes to non-Solanaceae hosts led to a large reduction of mean viral fitness, while the variance remained constant and skewness increased towards the right tail. Within the Solanaceae hosts, the distribution contained an excess of deleterious mutations, whereas for the non-Solanaceae the fraction of beneficial mutations was significantly larger. All together, this result suggests that TEV may easily broaden its host range and improve fitness in new hosts, and that knowledge about the DMFE in the natural host does not allow for making predictions about its properties in an alternative host.
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spelling doaj.art-ab07c71562e4447b8f09f9434e996b422022-12-22T00:16:16ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Genetics1553-73901553-74042011-11-01711e100237810.1371/journal.pgen.1002378Effect of host species on the distribution of mutational fitness effects for an RNA virus.Jasna LalićJosé M CuevasSantiago F ElenaKnowledge about the distribution of mutational fitness effects (DMFE) is essential for many evolutionary models. In recent years, the properties of the DMFE have been carefully described for some microorganisms. In most cases, however, this information has been obtained only for a single environment, and very few studies have explored the effect that environmental variation may have on the DMFE. Environmental effects are particularly relevant for the evolution of multi-host parasites and thus for the emergence of new pathogens. Here we characterize the DMFE for a collection of twenty single-nucleotide substitution mutants of Tobacco etch potyvirus (TEV) across a set of eight host environments. Five of these host species were naturally infected by TEV, all belonging to family Solanaceae, whereas the other three were partially susceptible hosts belonging to three other plant families. First, we found a significant virus genotype-by-host species interaction, which was sustained by differences in genetic variance for fitness and the pleiotropic effect of mutations among hosts. Second, we found that the DMFEs were markedly different between Solanaceae and non-Solanaceae hosts. Exposure of TEV genotypes to non-Solanaceae hosts led to a large reduction of mean viral fitness, while the variance remained constant and skewness increased towards the right tail. Within the Solanaceae hosts, the distribution contained an excess of deleterious mutations, whereas for the non-Solanaceae the fraction of beneficial mutations was significantly larger. All together, this result suggests that TEV may easily broaden its host range and improve fitness in new hosts, and that knowledge about the DMFE in the natural host does not allow for making predictions about its properties in an alternative host.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3219607?pdf=render
spellingShingle Jasna Lalić
José M Cuevas
Santiago F Elena
Effect of host species on the distribution of mutational fitness effects for an RNA virus.
PLoS Genetics
title Effect of host species on the distribution of mutational fitness effects for an RNA virus.
title_full Effect of host species on the distribution of mutational fitness effects for an RNA virus.
title_fullStr Effect of host species on the distribution of mutational fitness effects for an RNA virus.
title_full_unstemmed Effect of host species on the distribution of mutational fitness effects for an RNA virus.
title_short Effect of host species on the distribution of mutational fitness effects for an RNA virus.
title_sort effect of host species on the distribution of mutational fitness effects for an rna virus
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3219607?pdf=render
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