학술논문
Ancient chicken remains reveal the origins of virulence in Marek’s disease virus.
Document Type
Article
Author
Fiddaman, Steven R.; Dimopoulos, Evangelos A.; Lebrasseur, Ophélie; du Plessis, Louis; Vrancken, Bram; Charlton, Sophy; Haruda, Ashleigh F.; Tabbada, Kristina; Flammer, Patrik G.; Dascalu, Stefan; Marković, Nemanja; Hannah Li; Franklin, Gabrielle; Symmons, Robert; Baron, Henriette; Daróczi-Szabó, László; Shaymuratova, Dilyara N.; Askeyev, Igor V.; Putelat, Olivier; Sana, Maria
Source
Subject
*MAREK'S disease
*VIRUS diseases
*CHICKENS
*LIVESTOCK growth
*VIRAL genes
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Language
ISSN
0036-8075
Abstract
The pronounced growth in livestock populations since the 1950s has altered the epidemiological and evolutionary trajectory of their associated pathogens. For example, Marek’s disease virus (MDV), which causes lymphoid tumors in chickens, has experienced a marked increase in virulence over the past century. Today, MDV infections kill >90% of unvaccinated birds, and controlling it costs more than US$1 billion annually. By sequencing MDV genomes derived from archeological chickens, we demonstrate that it has been circulating for at least 1000 years. We functionally tested the Meq oncogene, one of 49 viral genes positively selected in modern strains, demonstrating that ancient MDV was likely incapable of driving tumor formation. Our results demonstrate the power of ancient DNA approaches to trace the molecular basis of virulence in economically relevant pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]