Evidence for a role of phenotypic mutations in virus adaptation

Autor: Raquel Luzon-Hidalgo, Valeria A. Risso, Asuncion Delgado, Eduardo Andrés-León, Beatriz Ibarra-Molero, Jose M. Sanchez-Ruiz
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: iScience, Vol 24, Iss 4, Pp 102257- (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2589-0042
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102257
Popis: Summary: Viruses interact extensively with the host molecular machinery, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Bacteriophage T7 recruits the small protein thioredoxin of the Escherichia coli host as an essential processivity factor for the viral DNA polymerase. We challenged the phage to propagate in a host in which thioredoxin had been extensively modified to hamper its recruitment. The virus adapted to the engineered host without losing the capability to propagate in the original host, but no genetic mutations were fixed in the thioredoxin binding domain of the viral DNA polymerase. Virus adaptation correlated with mutations in the viral RNA polymerase, supporting that promiscuous thioredoxin recruitment was enabled by phenotypic mutations caused by transcription errors. These results point to a mechanism of virus adaptation that may play a role in cross-species transmission. We propose that phenotypic mutations may generally contribute to the capability of viruses to evade antiviral strategies.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals