RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Viral gain-of-function experiments uncover residues under diversifying selection in nature
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 242495
DO 10.1101/242495
A1 Maddamsetti, Rohan
A1 Johnson, Daniel T.
A1 Spielman, Stephanie J.
A1 Petrie, Katherine L.
A1 Marks, Debora S.
A1 Meyer, Justin R.
YR 2018
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/01/03/242495.abstract
AB Viral gain-of-function mutations are commonly observed in the laboratory; however, it is unknown whether those mutations also evolve in nature. We identify two key residues in the host recognition protein of bacteriophage λ that are necessary to exploit a new receptor; both residues repeatedly evolved among homologs from environmental samples. Our results provide evidence for widespread host-shift evolution in nature and a proof of concept for integrating experiments with genomic epidemiology.