Reports

A Virus Reveals Population Structure and Recent Demographic History of Its Carnivore Host

Roman Biek,^1* Alexei J. Drummond,³ Mary Poss^1,2

Directly transmitted parasites often provide substantial information about the temporal and spatial characteristics of host-to-host contact. Here, we demonstrate that a fast-evolving virus (feline immunodeficiency virus, FIV) can reveal details of the contemporary population structure and recent demographic history of its natural wildlife host (Puma concolor) that were not apparent from host genetic data and would be impossible to obtain by other means. We suggest that rapidly evolving pathogens may provide a complementary tool for studying population dynamics of their hosts in "shallow" time.

¹ Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA.
² Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA.
³ Department of Computer Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

^* Present address: Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.

To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rbiek{at}emory.edu

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Ecology, Genetic Diversity, and Phylogeographic Structure of Andes Virus in Humans and Rodents in Chile.

R. A. Medina, F. Torres-Perez, H. Galeno, M. Navarrete, P. A. Vial, R. E. Palma, M. Ferres, J. A. Cook, and B. Hjelle (2009)
J. Virol. 83, 2446-2459
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The origin and phylogeography of dog rabies virus.

H. Bourhy, J.-M. Reynes, E. J. Dunham, L. Dacheux, F. Larrous, V. T. Q. Huong, G. Xu, J. Yan, M. E. G. Miranda, and E. C. Holmes (2008)
J. Gen. Virol. 89, 2673-2681
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Ocelots on Barro Colorado Island Are Infected with Feline Immunodeficiency Virus but Not Other Common Feline and Canine Viruses.

S. P. Franklin, R. W. Kays, R. Moreno, J. A. TerWee, J. L. Troyer, and S. VandeWoude (2008)
J. Wildl. Dis. 44, 760-765
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Smooth Skyride through a Rough Skyline: Bayesian Coalescent-Based Inference of Population Dynamics.

V. N. Minin, E. W. Bloomquist, and M. A. Suchard (2008)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 25, 1459-1471
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Spatial dynamics and genetics of infectious diseases on heterogeneous landscapes.

L. A Real and R. Biek (2007)
J R Soc Interface 4, 935-948
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Frequent Transmission of Immunodeficiency Viruses among Bobcats and Pumas.

S. P. Franklin, J. L. Troyer, J. A. Terwee, L. M. Lyren, W. M. Boyce, S. P. D. Riley, M. E. Roelke, K. R. Crooks, and S. VandeWoude (2007)
J. Virol. 81, 10961-10969
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A high-resolution genetic signature of demographic and spatial expansion in epizootic rabies virus.

R. Biek, J. C. Henderson, L. A. Waller, C. E. Rupprecht, and L. A. Real (2007)
PNAS 104, 7993-7998
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Ancient lentiviruses leave their mark.

E. C. Holmes (2007)
PNAS 104, 6095-6096
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Alarm Bells for the Molecular Clock? No Support for Ho et al.'s Model of Time-Dependent Molecular Rate Estimates.

B. C. Emerson (2007)
Syst Biol 56, 337-345
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Going Wild: Lessons from Naturally Occurring T-Lymphotropic Lentiviruses.

S. VandeWoude and C. Apetrei (2006)
Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 19, 728-762
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Factors associated with pathogen seroprevalence and infection in rocky mountain cougars..

R. Biek, T. K. Ruth, K. M. Murphy, C. R. Anderson Jr., M. Johnson, R. DeSimone, R. Gray, M. G. Hornocker, C. M. Gillin, and M. Poss (2006)
J. Wildl. Dis. 42, 606-615
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Quantification of Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIVpco) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, lymph nodes and plasma of naturally infected cougars..

D. J. Blake, J. Graham, and M. Poss (2006)
J. Gen. Virol. 87, 967-975
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