ArticlePLoS genetics2011
Viral genome segmentation can result from a trade-off between genetic content and particle stability.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers.
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Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 107 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Bipartite genome and structural organization of the parvovirus Acheta domesticus segmented densovirus.Nature communications · 2023Article
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- Nonconcomitant host-to-host transmission of multipartite virus genome segments may lead to complete genome reconstitution.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Towards an integrative view of virus phenotypes.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2022Review
- Gene copy number variations at the within-host population level modulate gene expression in a multipartite virus.Virus evolution · 2022Article
- Why are viral genomes so fragile? The bottleneck hypothesis.PLoS computational biology · 2021Article
- Discovery and Characterization of a Novel Bipartite Botrexvirus From the Phytopathogenic FungusFrontiers in microbiology · 2021Article
- A non-enveloped arbovirus released in lysosome-derived extracellular vesicles induces super-infection exclusion.PLoS pathogens · 2020Article
- Evolutionary advantage of anti-parallel strand orientation of duplex DNA.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Broad and Dynamic Diversification of Infectious Hepatitis C Virus in a Cell Culture Environment.Journal of virology · 2020Article
- Nanovirus Disease Complexes: An Emerging Threat in the Modern Era.Frontiers in plant science · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The evolutionary benefit of viral genome segmentation is a classical, yet unsolved question in evolutionary biology and RNA genetics. Theoretical studies anticipated that replication of shorter RNA segments could provide a replicative advantage over standard size genomes. However, this question has remained elusive to experimentalists because of the lack of a proper viral model system. Here we present a study with a stable segmented bipartite RNA virus and its ancestor non-segmented counterpart, in an identical genomic nucleotide sequence context. Results of RNA replication, protein expression, competition experiments, and inactivation of infectious particles point to a non-replicative trait, the particle stability, as the main driver of fitness gain of segmented genomes. Accordingly, measurements of the volume occupation of the genome inside viral capsids indicate that packaging shorter genomes involves a relaxation of the packaging density that is energetically favourable. The empirical observations are used to design a computational model that predicts the existence of a critical multiplicity of infection for domination of segmented over standard types. Our experiments suggest that viral segmented genomes may have arisen as a molecular solution for the trade-off between genome length and particle stability. Genome segmentation allows maximizing the genetic content without the detrimental effect in stability derived from incresing genome length.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.