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Viral evolution is a subfield of evolutionary biology and virology that is specifically concerned with the evolution of viruses. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Viruses have short generation times, and many—in particular RNA viruses —have relatively high mutation rates (on the order of one point mutation or more per genome per round of replication).
Viral phylodynamics is the study of how epidemiological, immunological, and evolutionary processes act and potentially interact to shape viral phylogenies. [1] Since the term was coined in 2004, research on viral phylodynamics has focused on transmission dynamics in an effort to shed light on how these dynamics impact viral genetic variation.
Further, the viral origins of the modern eukaryotic nucleus may have relied on multiple infections of archaeal cells carrying bacterial mitochondrial precursors with lysogenic viruses. [4] The viral eukaryogenesis hypothesis depicts a model of eukaryotic evolution in which a virus, similar to a modern pox virus, evolved into a nucleus via gene ...
New groups of viruses might have repeatedly emerged at all stages of the evolution of life. [16] There are three major theories about the origins of viruses: [16] [17] Regressive theory Viruses may have once been small cells that parasitised larger cells. Eventually, the genes they no longer needed for a parasitic way of life were lost.
Mathematical models need to integrate the increasing volume of data being generated on host-pathogen interactions. Many theoretical studies of the population dynamics, structure and evolution of infectious diseases of plants and animals, including humans, are concerned with this problem. [27] Research topics include: antigenic shift ...
The virulence of the virus may be changed, [5] or a virus could evolve to become adapted to a different host environment than that in which it is typically found. [5] Relatively few passages are necessary to produce a noticeable change in a virus; for instance, a virus can typically adapt to a new host within ten or so passages. [5]
A founder virus can introduce a different phenotype for the ensuing evolution. Evolution of viruses in nature and as disease agents can be viewed as succession of mutant spectrum alterations, subjected to expansions and reductions of population size in a continuous interplay of positive and negative selection and random drift.
Viruses may even have multiple origins and different types of viruses may have evolved independently over the history of life. [52] There are different hypotheses for the origins of viruses, for instance an early viral origin from the RNA world or a later viral origin from selfish DNA .