Professor David Evans School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick
Wednesday 19th November, 4.00 p.m., Stacey Lecture Theatre 1
RNA viruses evolve rapidly, generating large populations of diverse progeny by the combined influence of error-prone polymerases and – in cells co-infected with two related viruses – recombinants possessing hybrid genomes. Recombination, presumably because it involves significant change in virus genotype, can readily generate viruses with a virulent phenotype. Using examples of poliovirus (humans) and deformed wing virus (DWV; honeybees) I will discuss recent novel insights into the molecular mechanism of recombination and the selection and evolution of virulent recombinant viruses in the host. Our studies demonstrate that recombination is a biphasic process, involving the generation of intermediates of greater than genome-length, potentially providing a mechanistic explanation for “evolution by duplication”. In honeybees, virulent recombinant forms of DWV are the primary cause of overwintering colony losses by beekeepers.