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Divergent Evolutionary Pathways of Myxoma Virus in Australia: Virulence Phenotypes in Susceptible and Partially Resistant Rabbits Indicate Possible Selection for Transmissibility

Peter J Kerr, View ORCID ProfileIsabella M Cattadori, Derek Sim, June Liu, Edward C. Holmes, Andrew F. Read
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.02.494607
Peter J Kerr
1CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
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Isabella M Cattadori
2Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics and Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
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  • ORCID record for Isabella M Cattadori
Derek Sim
2Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics and Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
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June Liu
1CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
3Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, 7 London Circuit, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
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Edward C. Holmes
4Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
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Andrew F. Read
2Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics and Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
5Department of Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
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  • For correspondence: a.read@psu.edu
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ABSTRACT

To characterize the ongoing evolution of myxoma virus in Australian rabbits we used experimental infections of laboratory rabbits to determine the virulence and disease phenotypes of recent virus isolates. The viruses, collected between 2012-2015, fell into three lineages, one of which, lineage c, experienced a punctuated increase in evolutionary rate. All viruses were capable of causing acute death with aspects of neutropenic septicaemia, characterized by minimal signs of myxomatosis, the occurrence of pulmonary oedema and bacteria invasions throughout internal organs, but with no inflammatory response. For the viruses of highest virulence all rabbits usually died at this point. In more attenuated viruses some rabbits died acutely while others developed an amyxomatous phenotype. Rabbits that survived for longer periods developed greatly swollen cutaneous tissues with very high virus titres. This was particularly true of lineage c viruses. Unexpectedly, we identified a line of laboratory rabbits with some innate resistance to myxomatosis and used these in direct comparisons with the fully susceptible rabbit line. Importantly, the same disease phenotype occurred in both susceptible and resistant rabbits, although virulence was shifted towards more attenuated grades in resistant animals. We propose that selection against inflammation at cutaneous sites prolongs virus replication and enhances transmission, leading to the amyxomatous phenotype. In some virus backgrounds this creates an immunosuppressive state that predisposes to high virulence and acute death. The alterations in disease pathogenesis, particularly the overwhelming bacterial invasions that characterize the modern viruses, suggest that their virulence grades are not directly comparable with earlier studies.

IMPORTANCE The evolution of the myxoma virus (MYXV) following its release as a biological control for European rabbits in Australia is the textbook example of the co-evolution of virus virulence and host resistance. However, most of our knowledge of MYXV evolution only covers the first few decades of its spread in Australia and often with little direct connection between how changes in virus phenotype relate to those in the underlying virus genotype. By conducting detailed experimental infections of recent isolates of MYXV in different lines of laboratory rabbits we examined the ongoing evolution of MYXV disease phenotypes. Our results reveal a wide range of phenotypes, including an amyxomatous type as well as the impact of invasive bacteria, that in part depended on the level of rabbit host resistance. These results provide a unique insight into the complex virus and host factors that combine to shape disease phenotype and viral evolution.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
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Posted June 02, 2022.
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Divergent Evolutionary Pathways of Myxoma Virus in Australia: Virulence Phenotypes in Susceptible and Partially Resistant Rabbits Indicate Possible Selection for Transmissibility
Peter J Kerr, Isabella M Cattadori, Derek Sim, June Liu, Edward C. Holmes, Andrew F. Read
bioRxiv 2022.06.02.494607; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.02.494607
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Divergent Evolutionary Pathways of Myxoma Virus in Australia: Virulence Phenotypes in Susceptible and Partially Resistant Rabbits Indicate Possible Selection for Transmissibility
Peter J Kerr, Isabella M Cattadori, Derek Sim, June Liu, Edward C. Holmes, Andrew F. Read
bioRxiv 2022.06.02.494607; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.02.494607

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