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Machado TB, Picorelli ACR, de Azevedo BL, de Aquino ILM, Queiroz VF, Rodrigues RAL, Araújo JP, Ullmann LS, dos Santos TM, Marques RE, Guimarães SL, Andrade ACSP, Gularte JS, Demoliner M, Filippi M, Pereira VMAG, Spilki FR, Krupovic M, Aylward FO, Del-Bem LE, Abrahão JS. Gene duplication as a major force driving the genome expansion in some giant viruses. J Virol 2023; 97:e0130923. [PMID: 38092658 PMCID: PMC10734413 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01309-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 12/22/2023] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Giant viruses are noteworthy not only due to their enormous particles but also because of their gigantic genomes. In this context, a fundamental question has persisted: how did these genomes evolve? Here we present the discovery of cedratvirus pambiensis, featuring the largest genome ever described for a cedratvirus. Our data suggest that the larger size of the genome can be attributed to an unprecedented number of duplicated genes. Further investigation of this phenomenon in other viruses has illuminated gene duplication as a key evolutionary mechanism driving genome expansion in diverse giant viruses. Although gene duplication has been described as a recurrent event in cellular organisms, our data highlights its potential as a pivotal event in the evolution of gigantic viral genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Talita B. Machado
- Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Agnello C. R. Picorelli
- Laboratório de Genômica Evolutiva, Departamento de Genética, Evolução, Microbiologia e Imunologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil
| | - Bruna L. de Azevedo
- Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Isabella L. M. de Aquino
- Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Victória F. Queiroz
- Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo A. L. Rodrigues
- Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - João Pessoa Araújo
- Laboratório de Virologia, Departamento de Microbiologia e Imunologia, Instituto de Biotecnologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Botucatu, Brazil
| | - Leila S. Ullmann
- Laboratório de Virologia, Departamento de Microbiologia e Imunologia, Instituto de Biotecnologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Botucatu, Brazil
| | - Thiago M. dos Santos
- Del-Bem Lab, Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Rafael E. Marques
- Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory (LNBio), Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), Campinas, Brazil
| | - Samuel L. Guimarães
- Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory (LNBio), Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), Campinas, Brazil
| | - Ana Cláudia S. P. Andrade
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec- Université Laval, Laval, Québec, Canada
| | - Juliana S. Gularte
- Laboratório de Microbiologia Molecular, Universidade Feevale, Novo Hamburgo, Brazil
| | - Meriane Demoliner
- Laboratório de Microbiologia Molecular, Universidade Feevale, Novo Hamburgo, Brazil
| | - Micheli Filippi
- Laboratório de Microbiologia Molecular, Universidade Feevale, Novo Hamburgo, Brazil
| | | | - Fernando R. Spilki
- Laboratório de Microbiologia Molecular, Universidade Feevale, Novo Hamburgo, Brazil
| | - Mart Krupovic
- Archaeal Virology Unit, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR6047, Paris, France
| | - Frank O. Aylward
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
- Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Arthropod-Borne Infectious Disease Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
| | - Luiz-Eduardo Del-Bem
- Del-Bem Lab, Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Jônatas S. Abrahão
- Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
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Warsaba R, Salcedo-Porras N, Flibotte S, Jan E. Expansion of viral genomes with viral protein genome linked copies. Virology 2022; 577:174-184. [PMID: 36395539 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2022.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Revised: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Virus protein-linked genome (VPg) proteins are required for replication. VPgs are duplicated in a subset of RNA viruses however their roles are not fully understood and the extent of viral genomes containing VPg copies has not been investigated in detail. Here, we generated a novel bioinformatics approach to identify VPg sequences in viral genomes using hidden Markov models (HMM) based on alignments of dicistrovirus VPg sequences. From metagenomic datasets of dicistrovirus genomes, we identified 717 dicistrovirus genomes containing VPgs ranging from a single copy to 8 tandem copies. The VPgs are classified into nine distinct types based on their sequence and length. The VPg types but not VPg numbers per viral genome followed specific virus clades, thus suggesting VPgs co-evolved with viral genomes. We also identified VPg duplications in aquamavirus and mosavirus genomes. This study greatly expands the number of viral genomes that contain VPg copies and indicates that duplicated viral sequences are more widespread than anticipated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reid Warsaba
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada; Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Nicolas Salcedo-Porras
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada; Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Stephane Flibotte
- Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada; UBC/LSI Bioinformatics Facility, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Eric Jan
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada; Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
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3
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Abstract
Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites. Despite their dependence on host cells, viruses are evolutionarily autonomous, with their own genomes and evolutionary trajectories locked in arms races with the hosts. Here, we discuss a simple functional logic to explain virus macroevolution that appears to define the course of virus evolution. A small core of virus hallmark genes that are responsible for genome replication apparently descended from primordial replicators, whereas most virus genes, starting with those encoding capsid proteins, were subsequently acquired from hosts. The oldest of these acquisitions antedate the last universal cellular ancestor (LUCA). Host gene capture followed two major routes: convergent recruitment of genes with functions that directly benefit virus reproduction and exaptation when host proteins are repurposed for unique virus functions. These forms of host protein recruitment by viruses result in different levels of similarity between virus and host homologs, with the exapted ones often changing beyond easy recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugene V Koonin
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA.
| | - Valerian V Dolja
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA; Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
| | - Mart Krupovic
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR6047, Archaeal Virology Unit, F-75015 Paris, France.
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4
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Pasin F, Daròs JA, Tzanetakis IE. OUP accepted manuscript. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2022; 46:6534904. [PMID: 35195244 PMCID: PMC9249622 DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuac011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2021] [Revised: 02/02/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Potyviridae, the largest family of known RNA viruses (realm Riboviria), belongs to the picorna-like supergroup and has important agricultural and ecological impacts. Potyvirid genomes are translated into polyproteins, which are in turn hydrolyzed to release mature products. Recent sequencing efforts revealed an unprecedented number of potyvirids with a rich variability in gene content and genomic layouts. Here, we review the heterogeneity of non-core modules that expand the structural and functional diversity of the potyvirid proteomes. We provide a family-wide classification of P1 proteinases into the functional Types A and B, and discuss pretty interesting sweet potato potyviral ORF (PISPO), putative zinc fingers, and alkylation B (AlkB)—non-core modules found within P1 cistrons. The atypical inosine triphosphate pyrophosphatase (ITPase/HAM1), as well as the pseudo tobacco mosaic virus-like coat protein (TMV-like CP) are discussed alongside homologs of unrelated virus taxa. Family-wide abundance of the multitasking helper component proteinase (HC-pro) is revised. Functional connections between non-core modules are highlighted to support host niche adaptation and immune evasion as main drivers of the Potyviridae evolutionary radiation. Potential biotechnological and synthetic biology applications of potyvirid leader proteinases and non-core modules are finally explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Pasin
- Corresponding author: Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universitat Politècnica de València (CSIC-UPV), UPV Building 8E, Ingeniero Fausto Elio, 46011 Valencia, Spain. E-mail:
| | - José-Antonio Daròs
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universitat Politècnica de València (CSIC-UPV), 46011 Valencia, Spain
| | - Ioannis E Tzanetakis
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Division of Agriculture, University of Arkansas System, 72701 Fayetteville, AR, USA
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P1 of Sweet Potato Feathery Mottle Virus Shows Strong Adaptation Capacity, Replacing P1-HCPro in a Chimeric Plum Pox Virus. J Virol 2021; 95:e0015021. [PMID: 33952634 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00150-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Potyviridae is the largest family of plant RNA viruses. Their genomes are expressed through long polyproteins that are usually headed by the leader endopeptidase P1. This protein can be classified as type A or type B based on host proteolytic requirements and RNA silencing suppression (RSS) capacity. The main Potyviridae genus is Potyvirus, and a group of potyviruses infecting sweet potato presents an enlarged P1 protein with a polymerase slippage motif that produces an extra product termed P1N-PISPO. These two proteins display some RSS activity and are expressed followed by HCPro, which appears to be the main RNA silencing suppressor in these viruses. Here, we studied the behavior of the P1 protein of Sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV) using a viral system based on a canonical potyvirus, Plum pox virus (PPV), and discovered that this protein is able to replace both PPV P1 and HCPro. We also found that P1N-PISPO, produced after polymerase slippage, provides extra RNA silencing suppression capacity to SPFMV P1 in this viral context. In addition, the results showed that presence of two type A P1 proteins was detrimental for viral viability. The ample recombination spectrum that we found in the recovered viruses supports the strong adaptation capacity of P1 proteins and signals the N-terminal part of SPFMV P1 as essential for RSS activity. Further analyses provided data to add extra layers to the evolutionary history of sweet potato-infecting potyvirids. IMPORTANCE Plant viruses represent a major challenge for agriculture worldwide and Potyviridae, being the largest family of plant RNA viruses, is one of the primary players. P1, the leader endopeptidase, is a multifunctional protein that contributes to the successful spread of these viruses over a wide host range. Understanding how P1 proteins work, their dynamic interplay during viral infection, and their evolutionary path is critical for the development of strategic tools to fight the multiple diseases these viruses cause. We focused our efforts on the P1 protein of Sweet potato feathery mottle virus, which is coresponsible for the most devastating disease in sweet potato. The significance of our research is in understanding the capacity of this protein to perform several independent functions, using this knowledge to learn more about P1 proteins in general and the potyvirids infecting this host.
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Cisneros-Martínez AM, Becerra A, Lazcano A. Ancient gene duplications in RNA viruses revealed by protein tertiary structure comparisons. Virus Evol 2021; 7:veab019. [PMID: 33758672 PMCID: PMC7967035 DOI: 10.1093/ve/veab019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
To date only a handful of duplicated genes have been described in RNA viruses. This shortage can be attributed to different factors, including the RNA viruses with high mutation rate that would make a large genome more prone to acquire deleterious mutations. This may explain why sequence-based approaches have only found duplications in their most recent evolutionary history. To detect earlier duplications, we performed protein tertiary structure comparisons for every RNA virus family represented in the Protein Data Bank. We present a list of thirty pairs of possible paralogs with <30 per cent sequence identity. It is argued that these pairs are the outcome of six duplication events. These include the α and β subunits of the fungal toxin KP6 present in the dsRNA Ustilago maydis virus (family Totiviridae), the SARS-CoV (Coronaviridae) nsp3 domains SUD-N, SUD-M and X-domain, the Picornavirales (families Picornaviridae, Dicistroviridae, Iflaviridae and Secoviridae) capsid proteins VP1, VP2 and VP3, and the Enterovirus (family Picornaviridae) 3C and 2A cysteine-proteases. Protein tertiary structure comparisons may reveal more duplication events as more three-dimensional protein structures are determined and suggests that, although still rare, gene duplications may be more frequent in RNA viruses than previously thought. Keywords: gene duplications; RNA viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Arturo Becerra
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Antonio Lazcano
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
- El Colegio Nacional, Donceles 104, Centro Histórico, Mexico City, Mexico
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Chen K, Khatabi B, Fondong VN. The AC4 Protein of a Cassava Geminivirus Is Required for Virus Infection. MOLECULAR PLANT-MICROBE INTERACTIONS : MPMI 2019; 32:865-875. [PMID: 30699305 DOI: 10.1094/mpmi-12-18-0354-r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Geminiviruses (family Geminiviridae) are among the most devastating plant viruses worldwide, causing severe damage in crops of economic and subsistence importance. These viruses have very compact genomes and many of the encoded proteins are multifunctional. Here, we investigated the role of the East African cassava mosaic Cameroon virus (EACMCV) AC4 on virus infectivity in Nicotiana benthamiana. Results showed that plants inoculated with EACMCV containing a knockout mutation in an AC4 open reading frame displayed symptoms 2 to 3 days later than plants inoculated with wild-type virus, and these plants recovered from infection, whereas plants inoculated with the wild-type virus did not. Curiously, when an additional mutation was made in the knockout mutant, the resulting double mutant virus completely failed to cause any apparent symptoms. Interestingly, the role of AC4 on virus infectivity appeared to be dependent on an encoded N-myristoylation motif that mediates cell membrane binding. We previously showed that EACMCV containing the AC4T38I mutant produced virus progeny characterized by second-site mutations and reversion to wild-type virus. These results were confirmed in this study using additional mutations. Together, these results show involvement of EACMCV AC4 in virus infectivity; they also suggest a role for the combined action of mutation and selection, under prevailing environmental conditions, on begomovirus genetic variation and diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kegui Chen
- 1 Delaware State University, Department of Biological Sciences, Dover, Delaware, U.S.A
- 2 Kegui Chen, Institute of Biotechnology and Nuclear Technology, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China
| | - Behnam Khatabi
- 1 Delaware State University, Department of Biological Sciences, Dover, Delaware, U.S.A
- 3 Department of Natural Sciences, Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences, Princess Anne, MD 21853, U.S.A
| | - Vincent N Fondong
- 1 Delaware State University, Department of Biological Sciences, Dover, Delaware, U.S.A
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8
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Abstract
Viruses are widely used as vectors for heterologous gene expression in cultured cells or natural hosts, and therefore a large number of viruses with exogenous sequences inserted into their genomes have been engineered. Many of these engineered viruses are viable and express heterologous proteins at high levels, but the inserted sequences often prove to be unstable over time and are rapidly lost, limiting heterologous protein expression. Although virologists are aware that inserted sequences can be unstable, processes leading to insert instability are rarely considered from an evolutionary perspective. Here, we review experimental work on the stability of inserted sequences over a broad range of viruses, and we present some theoretical considerations concerning insert stability. Different virus genome organizations strongly impact insert stability, and factors such as the position of insertion can have a strong effect. In addition, we argue that insert stability not only depends on the characteristics of a particular genome, but that it will also depend on the host environment and the demography of a virus population. The interplay between all factors affecting stability is complex, which makes it challenging to develop a general model to predict the stability of genomic insertions. We highlight key questions and future directions, finding that insert stability is a surprisingly complex problem and that there is need for mechanism-based, predictive models. Combining theoretical models with experimental tests for stability under varying conditions can lead to improved engineering of viral modified genomes, which is a valuable tool for understanding genome evolution as well as for biotechnological applications, such as gene therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anouk Willemsen
- Laboratory MIVEGEC (UMR CNRS IRD University of Montpellier), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 911 Avenue Agropolis, BP 64501, 34394 Montpellier cedex 5, France
| | - Mark P Zwart
- Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Postbus 50, 6700 AB, Wageningen, The Netherlands
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9
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Ambrós S, de la Iglesia F, Rosario SM, Butkovic A, Elena SF. Engineered Functional Redundancy Relaxes Selective Constraints upon Endogenous Genes in Viral RNA Genomes. Genome Biol Evol 2018; 10:1823-1836. [PMID: 29982435 PMCID: PMC6059116 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evy141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Functional redundancy, understood as the functional overlap of different genes, is a double-edge sword. At the one side, it is thought to serve as a robustness mechanism that buffers the deleterious effect of mutations hitting one of the redundant copies, thus resulting in pseudogenization. At the other side, it is considered as a source of genetic and functional innovation. In any case, genetically redundant genes are expected to show an acceleration in the rate of molecular evolution. Here, we tackle the role of functional redundancy in viral RNA genomes. To this end, we have evaluated the rates of compensatory evolution for deleterious mutations affecting an essential function, the suppression of RNA silencing plant defense, of tobacco etch potyvirus (TEV). TEV genotypes containing deleterious mutations in presence/absence of engineered functional redundancy were evolved and the pattern of fitness and pathogenicity recovery evaluated. Genetically redundant genotypes suffered less from the effect of deleterious mutations and showed relatively minor changes in fitness and pathogenicity. By contrast, nongenetically redundant genotypes had very low fitness and pathogenicity at the beginning of the evolution experiment that were fully recovered by the end. At the molecular level, the outcome depended on the combination of the actual mutations being compensated and the presence/absence of functional redundancy. Reversions to wild-type alleles were the norm in the nonredundant genotypes while redundant ones either did not fix any mutation at all or showed a higher nonsynonymous mutational load.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Ambrós
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), CSIC-Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
| | - Francisca de la Iglesia
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), CSIC-Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
| | - Sttefany M Rosario
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), CSIC-Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain.,Laboratorio de Biología Molecular, Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria, UASD, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
| | - Anamarija Butkovic
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), CSIC-Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
| | - Santiago F Elena
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), CSIC-Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain.,Instituto de Biología Integrativa de Sistemas (I 2 SysBio), CSIC-Universitat de València, Paterna, Spain.,The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico
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10
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Solé RV, Montañez R, Duran-Nebreda S, Rodriguez-Amor D, Vidiella B, Sardanyés J. Population dynamics of synthetic terraformation motifs. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2018; 5:180121. [PMID: 30109068 PMCID: PMC6083676 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.180121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2018] [Accepted: 05/22/2018] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Ecosystems are complex systems, currently experiencing several threats associated with global warming, intensive exploitation and human-driven habitat degradation. Because of a general presence of multiple stable states, including states involving population extinction, and due to the intrinsic nonlinearities associated with feedback loops, collapse in ecosystems could occur in a catastrophic manner. It has been recently suggested that a potential path to prevent or modify the outcome of these transitions would involve designing synthetic organisms and synthetic ecological interactions that could push these endangered systems out of the critical boundaries. In this paper, we investigate the dynamics of the simplest mathematical models associated with four classes of ecological engineering designs, named Terraformation motifs (TMs). These TMs put in a nutshell different ecological strategies. In this context, some fundamental types of bifurcations pervade the systems' dynamics. Mutualistic interactions can enhance persistence of the systems by means of saddle-node bifurcations. The models without cooperative interactions show that ecosystems achieve restoration through transcritical bifurcations. Thus, our analysis of the models allows us to define the stability conditions and parameter domains where these TMs must work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricard V. Solé
- ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Dr Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Biologia Evolitiva, CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Passeig Marítim 37, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Santa Fe Institute 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
| | - Raúl Montañez
- ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Dr Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Biologia Evolitiva, CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Passeig Marítim 37, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Salva Duran-Nebreda
- ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Dr Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Biologia Evolitiva, CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Passeig Marítim 37, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Daniel Rodriguez-Amor
- ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Dr Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Biologia Evolitiva, CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Passeig Marítim 37, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Physics of Living Systems, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Blai Vidiella
- ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Dr Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Biologia Evolitiva, CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Passeig Marítim 37, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Josep Sardanyés
- ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Dr Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Biologia Evolitiva, CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Passeig Marítim 37, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Centre de Recerca Matemàtica, Edifici C, Campus de Bellaterra, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
- Barcelona Graduate School of Mathematics (BGSMath), Edifici C, Campus de Bellaterra, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
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11
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Cervera H, Ambrós S, Bernet GP, Rodrigo G, Elena SF. Viral Fitness Correlates with the Magnitude and Direction of the Perturbation Induced in the Host's Transcriptome: The Tobacco Etch Potyvirus-Tobacco Case Study. Mol Biol Evol 2018; 35:1599-1615. [PMID: 29562354 PMCID: PMC5995217 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msy038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Determining the fitness of viral genotypes has become a standard practice in virology as it is essential to evaluate their evolutionary potential. Darwinian fitness, defined as the advantage of a given genotype with respect to a reference one, is a complex property that captures, in a single figure, differences in performance at every stage of viral infection. To what extent does viral fitness result from specific molecular interactions with host factors and regulatory networks during infection? Can we identify host genes in functional classes whose expression depends on viral fitness? Here, we compared the transcriptomes of tobacco plants infected with seven genotypes of tobacco etch potyvirus that differ in fitness. We found that the larger the fitness differences among genotypes, the more dissimilar the transcriptomic profiles are. Consistently, two different mutations, one in the viral RNA polymerase and another in the viral suppressor of RNA silencing, resulted in significantly similar gene expression profiles. Moreover, we identified host genes whose expression showed a significant correlation, positive or negative, with the virus' fitness. Differentially expressed genes which were positively correlated with viral fitness activate hormone- and RNA silencing-mediated pathways of plant defense. In contrast, those that were negatively correlated with fitness affect metabolism, reducing growth, and development. Overall, these results reveal the high information content of viral fitness and suggest its potential use to predict differences in genomic profiles of infected hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Héctor Cervera
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), CSIC-Universitat Politècnia de València, Campus UPV CPI 8E, València, Spain
| | - Silvia Ambrós
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), CSIC-Universitat Politècnia de València, Campus UPV CPI 8E, València, Spain
| | - Guillermo P Bernet
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), CSIC-Universitat Politècnia de València, Campus UPV CPI 8E, València, Spain
| | - Guillermo Rodrigo
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), CSIC-Universitat Politècnia de València, Campus UPV CPI 8E, València, Spain
- Instituto de Biología Integrativa de Sistemas (ISysBio), CSIC-Universitat de València, Parc Científic UV, Catedrático Agustín Escardino 9, Paterna, València, Spain
| | - Santiago F Elena
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), CSIC-Universitat Politècnia de València, Campus UPV CPI 8E, València, Spain
- Instituto de Biología Integrativa de Sistemas (ISysBio), CSIC-Universitat de València, Parc Científic UV, Catedrático Agustín Escardino 9, Paterna, València, Spain
- The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM
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Willemsen A, Carrasco JL, Elena SF, Zwart MP. Going, going, gone: predicting the fate of genomic insertions in plant RNA viruses. Heredity (Edinb) 2018; 121:499-509. [PMID: 29743566 DOI: 10.1038/s41437-018-0086-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2017] [Revised: 03/28/2018] [Accepted: 03/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Horizontal gene transfer is common among viruses, while they also have highly compact genomes and tend to lose artificial genomic insertions rapidly. Understanding the stability of genomic insertions in viral genomes is therefore relevant for explaining and predicting their evolutionary patterns. Here, we revisit a large body of experimental research on a plant RNA virus, tobacco etch potyvirus (TEV), to identify the patterns underlying the stability of a range of homologous and heterologous insertions in the viral genome. We obtained a wide range of estimates for the recombination rate-the rate at which deletions removing the insertion occur-and these appeared to be independent of the type of insertion and its location. Of the factors we considered, recombination rate was the best predictor of insertion stability, although we could not identify the specific sequence characteristics that would help predict insertion instability. We also considered experimentally the possibility that functional insertions lead to higher mutational robustness through increased redundancy. However, our observations suggest that both functional and non-functional increases in genome size decreased the mutational robustness. Our results therefore demonstrate the importance of recombination rates for predicting the long-term stability and evolution of viral RNA genomes and suggest that there are unexpected drawbacks to increases in genome size for mutational robustness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anouk Willemsen
- Laboratory MIVEGEC (UMR CNRS 5290, IRD 224, UM), National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Montpellier, France
| | - José L Carrasco
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain
| | - Santiago F Elena
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain.,Instituto de Biología Integrativa de Sistemas (I2SysBio), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universitat de València, Paterna, Spain.,The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA
| | - Mark P Zwart
- Microbial Ecology Department, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands. .,Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
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Abstract
Reproduction of RNA viruses is typically error-prone due to the infidelity of their replicative machinery and the usual lack of proofreading mechanisms. The error rates may be close to those that kill the virus. Consequently, populations of RNA viruses are represented by heterogeneous sets of genomes with various levels of fitness. This is especially consequential when viruses encounter various bottlenecks and new infections are initiated by a single or few deviating genomes. Nevertheless, RNA viruses are able to maintain their identity by conservation of major functional elements. This conservatism stems from genetic robustness or mutational tolerance, which is largely due to the functional degeneracy of many protein and RNA elements as well as to negative selection. Another relevant mechanism is the capacity to restore fitness after genetic damages, also based on replicative infidelity. Conversely, error-prone replication is a major tool that ensures viral evolvability. The potential for changes in debilitated genomes is much higher in small populations, because in the absence of stronger competitors low-fit genomes have a choice of various trajectories to wander along fitness landscapes. Thus, low-fit populations are inherently unstable, and it may be said that to run ahead it is useful to stumble. In this report, focusing on picornaviruses and also considering data from other RNA viruses, we review the biological relevance and mechanisms of various alterations of viral RNA genomes as well as pathways and mechanisms of rehabilitation after loss of fitness. The relationships among mutational robustness, resilience, and evolvability of viral RNA genomes are discussed.
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Kang SH, Atallah OO, Sun YD, Folimonova SY. Functional diversification upon leader protease domain duplication in the Citrus tristeza virus genome: Role of RNA sequences and the encoded proteins. Virology 2017; 514:192-202. [PMID: 29197719 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2017.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2017] [Revised: 11/15/2017] [Accepted: 11/17/2017] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Viruses from the family Closteroviridae show an example of intra-genome duplications of more than one gene. In addition to the hallmark coat protein gene duplication, several members possess a tandem duplication of papain-like leader proteases. In this study, we demonstrate that domains encoding the L1 and L2 proteases in the Citrus tristeza virus genome underwent a significant functional divergence at the RNA and protein levels. We show that the L1 protease is crucial for viral accumulation and establishment of initial infection, whereas its coding region is vital for virus transport. On the other hand, the second protease is indispensable for virus infection of its natural citrus host, suggesting that L2 has evolved an important adaptive function that mediates virus interaction with the woody host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sung-Hwan Kang
- University of Florida, Plant Pathology Department, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Osama O Atallah
- University of Florida, Plant Pathology Department, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Yong-Duo Sun
- University of Florida, Plant Pathology Department, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
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Willemsen A, Zwart MP, Ambrós S, Carrasco JL, Elena SF. 2b or Not 2b: Experimental Evolution of Functional Exogenous Sequences in a Plant RNA Virus. Genome Biol Evol 2017; 9:297-310. [PMID: 28137747 PMCID: PMC5381683 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evw300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/19/2016] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is pervasive in viruses and thought to be a key mechanism in their evolution. On the other hand, strong selective constraints against increasing genome size are an impediment for HGT, rapidly purging horizontally transferred sequences and thereby potentially hindering evolutionary innovation. Here, we explore experimentally the evolutionary fate of viruses with simulated HGT events, using the plant RNA virus Tobacco etch virus (TEV), by separately introducing two functional, exogenous sequences to its genome. One of the events simulates the acquisition of a new function though HGT of a conserved AlkB domain, responsible for the repair of alkylation or methylation damage in many organisms. The other event simulates the acquisition of a sequence that duplicates an existing function, through HGT of the 2b RNA silencing suppressor from Cucumber mosaic virus. We then evolved these two viruses, tracked the maintenance of the horizontally transferred sequences over time, and for the final virus populations, sequenced their genome and measured viral fitness. We found that the AlkB domain was rapidly purged from the TEV genome, restoring fitness to wild-type levels. Conversely, the 2b gene was stably maintained and did not have a major impact on viral fitness. Moreover, we found that 2b is functional in TEV, as it provides a replicative advantage when the RNA silencing suppression domain of HC-Pro is mutated. These observations suggest a potentially interesting role for HGT of short functional sequences in ameliorating evolutionary constraints on viruses, through the duplication of functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anouk Willemsen
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, València, Spain
- Present address: MIVEGEC (UMR CNRS 5290, IRD 224, UM), National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Montpellier, Cedex, France
| | - Mark P. Zwart
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, València, Spain
- Present address: Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Silvia Ambrós
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, València, Spain
| | - José L. Carrasco
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, València, Spain
| | - Santiago F. Elena
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, València, Spain
- The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM
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Willemsen A, Zwart MP, Elena SF. High virulence does not necessarily impede viral adaptation to a new host: a case study using a plant RNA virus. BMC Evol Biol 2017; 17:25. [PMID: 28103791 PMCID: PMC5248479 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-017-0881-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2016] [Accepted: 01/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Theory suggests that high virulence could hinder between-host transmission of microparasites, and that virulence therefore will evolve to lower levels. Alternatively, highly virulent microparasites could also curtail host development, thereby limiting both the host resources available to them and their own within-host effective population size. In this case, high virulence might restrain the mutation supply rate and increase the strength with which genetic drift acts on microparasite populations. Thereby, this alternative explanation limits the microparasites' potential to adapt to the host and ultimately the ability to evolve lower virulence. As a first exploration of this hypothesis, we evolved Tobacco etch virus carrying an eGFP fluorescent marker in two semi-permissive host species, Nicotiana benthamiana and Datura stramonium, for which it has a large difference in virulence. We compared the results to those previously obtained in the natural host, Nicotiana tabacum, where we have shown that carriage of eGFP has a high fitness cost and its loss serves as a real-time indicator of adaptation. RESULTS After over half a year of evolution, we sequenced the genomes of the evolved lineages and measured their fitness. During the evolution experiment, marker loss leading to viable virus variants was only observed in one lineage of the host for which the virus has low virulence, D. stramonium. This result was consistent with the observation that there was a fitness cost of eGFP in this host, while surprisingly no fitness cost was observed in the host for which the virus has high virulence, N. benthamiana. Furthermore, in both hosts we observed increases in viral fitness in few lineages, and host-specific convergent evolution at the genomic level was only found in N. benthamiana. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study do not lend support to the hypothesis that high virulence impedes microparasites' evolution. Rather, they exemplify that jumps between host species can be game changers for evolutionary dynamics. When considering the evolution of genome architecture, host species jumps might play a very important role, by allowing evolutionary intermediates to be competitive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anouk Willemsen
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Campus UPV CPI 8E, Ingeniero Fausto Elio s/n, 46022 València, Spain
- Present address: MIVEGEC (UMR CNRS 5290, IRD 224, UM), National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), 911 Avenue Agropolis, BP 64501, 34394 Cedex 5 Montpellier, France
| | - Mark P. Zwart
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Campus UPV CPI 8E, Ingeniero Fausto Elio s/n, 46022 València, Spain
- Present address: Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Cologne, Germany
| | - Santiago F. Elena
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Campus UPV CPI 8E, Ingeniero Fausto Elio s/n, 46022 València, Spain
- The Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501 USA
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