title: Ecological Drivers of Virus Evolution: Astrovirus as a Case Study.
abstract: Although RNA viruses exhibit a high frequency of host jumps, major differences exist among the different virus families. Astroviruses infect a wide range of hosts, affecting both public health systems and economic production chains. Here we delineate the ecological and adaptive processes that drive the cross-species transmission of astroviruses. We observe that distinct transmission zones determine the prevailing astrovirus host and virus diversity, which in turn suggests that no single host group (e.g., bats) can be the natural reservoir, as illustrated through our phylogenetic analysis.
authors.affiliation: Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore ian.mendenhall@duke-nus.edu.sg vijay.dhanasekaran@duke-nus.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Ian H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Mendenhall
authors.affiliation: Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Gavin J D
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore ian.mendenhall@duke-nus.edu.sg vijay.dhanasekaran@duke-nus.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Dhanasekaran
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vijaykrishna
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D000818:Animals; D019200:Astroviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D019350:Astroviridae Infections / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017753:Ecosystem; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D008322:Mammals; D010802:Phylogeny