Virus evolution: the mutualism-antagonism continuum of virus-virus interactions

Chairperson: Paul Turner
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 165 Prospect St., Yale University, New Haven, CT  06520 USA
Phone: + 1 203 314 2229
Email: paul.turner@yale.edu

Vice-chairperson: Yannis Michalakis
Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs : Ecologie Génétique Evolution et Contrôle (MIVEGEC) UMR Université de Montpellier – CNRS - IRD 5290, 911 avenue Agropolis BP64501, 34394 Montpellier CEDEX 5, France
Phone:
Email: yannis.michalakis@ird.fr

Interactions between viruses can occur within an infected host individual, where these virus–virus interactions may include direct and indirect consequences of one virus strain or species for the successful infection of another virus. The range of outcomes span a continuum, so that virus-virus interactions produce either mutualisms (net fitness benefits to each virus) or possible antagonisms (fitness disadvantages). These interactions can be due to concurrent infections of multiple viruses within the host, or they may result from effects of prior infections, such as changes to host immunity that suppress or enhance the later infection success of a different virus. Historically, virus-virus interactions were often discovered by chance. Whereas, more recent efforts seek to purposefully examine the role of virus-virus infections in a wide variety of biological systems. There is increasing evidence that virus–virus interactions commonly occur, and that studying these relationships is crucial for the general understanding of virus ecology and evolution, as well as for elucidation of viral pathogenesis and disease.

The goal of this Monod conference is to convene virus researchers of varying expertise (epidemiology, theory, empiricism, bioinformatics), who work on myriad types of viruses that infect a wide variety of hosts. We will discuss classic and novel ideas about virus evolution, and the importance of within-host interactions among viruses and how they may impact virus evolution. This conference is extremely timely due to the increased realization of the importance of interactions not only among viral species and strains, but also among viral components, be they ‘normal’ or semi-infectious or defective interfering particles, viral satellites or genomic segments, in modulating and determining viral phenotypes and infections outcomes. Importantly, the ecological context of such interactions is extremely relevant but (in our opinion) largely overlooked in virus research. Therefore, our hope is that this unique conference will contribute to expanding the integration of virus evolutionary ecology into virology studies.

The conference will cover the following topics:

• Importance of virus interactions in disease
• Evolutionary ecology of virus interactions in natural environments
• Effects of virus interactions on adaptability and evolvability
• Using sociology concepts to understand virus interactions
• Host defenses, immunology and virus-virus interactions

Invited speakers

(provisional titles)

Samuel Alizon (Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology (CIRB), College de France, CNRS, INSERM, Université PSL, Paris, France)
Human papillomavirus (HPV) dynamics and evolution in the vaginal environment

Anne-Claire Baudoux (Station Biologique de Roscoff, Roscoff, France)
Virus interactions in current and future ocean
 

Stéphane Blanc (INRAE, Plant Health Institute of Montpellier (PHIM), Montpellier, France)
Separate spread of distinct genes of multi-component viruses to new cells and new hosts
 

Sebastian Bonhoeffer (Dept. of Environmental Systems Science, Institut für Integrative Biologie, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland)
The mutualism to antagonism continuum: insights from plasmids
 

Christopher Brooke (Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Collective dynamics within influenza virus populations
 

Sam Diaz-Munoz (Dept. of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Davis, USA)
The social side of genetic exchange among influenza A viruses
 

Pilar Domingo-Calap (Institute for Integrative Systems Biology, Universitat de València-CSIC, Valencia, Spain)
Implications of phage-phage interactions in the design of phage therapeutic cocktails
 

Siobain Duffy (Dept. of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA)
Cassava virus evolution in susceptible, tolerant and "resistant" hosts
 

Santiago Elena (Institute for Integrative Systems Biology, Universitat de València-CSIC, Valencia, Spain)
From mutual cooperation to prisoner' dilemma and beyond: how viral genomes affect critical mutation rate in quasispecies models
 

Lucie Etienne (CNRS, Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie (CIRI), Lyon, France)
(Co)evolution between mammalian hosts and viruses
 

Sylvain Gandon (CNRS, Montpellier, France)
Adaptive plasticity of viral life cycles
 

Fernando Garcia Arenal (Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain)
The effect of virus infection in wild plants in nature depends on the fitness component and the environment
 

Nolwenn Jouvenet (Dept. of Virology, Institut Pasteur, Paris France)
Clash of the titans: RNA viruses and interferons
 

Britt Koskella (Dept. of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, USA)
Bacteriophages as competitors and facilitators of competition in complex communities
 

Anice Lowen (Dept of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University, Atlanta, USA)
Beneficial virus-virus interactions within cells drive efficient propagation of influenza A virus
 

Katrina Lythgoe (Dept. of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom)
How within-host selection affects the between-host evolution of pandemic viruses
 

Susanna Manrubia (Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, CSIC, Madrid, Spain)
Virus-satellite associations as drivers of viral coexistence
 

Jessica Metcalf (Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology , Princeton University, Princeton, USA)
The immuno-epidemiology of viral interactions
 

Yannis Michalakis (CNRS Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs : Ecologie Génétique Evolution et Contrôle (MIVEGEC) , Montpellier, France)
Reassortment in a multipartite virus
 

Gwenael Piganeau (Integrative Biology of Marine Organisms, Sorbonne University, Banyuls, France)
Virus-host dynamics in the phytoplankton-dsDNA virus system through the genomic lens
 

Roland Regoes (Dept. of Environmental Systems Science, Institut für Integrative Biologie, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland)
Experimental epidemiology with viruses: toward assessing phylodynamics
 

Philippe Roumagnac (Plant Health Institute of Montpellier (PHIM), Montpellier, France)
Temporal dynamics of plant-associated viral communities of a Mediterranean grassland
 

Rafael Sanjuan (Institute for Integrative Systems Biology, Universitat de Valencia, Valencia, Spain)
The role of receptor usage in viral zoonoses
 

Mircea Sofonea (Pathogenesis and Control of Chronic and Emerging Infections, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France)
Modelling viral polymorphism dynamics: from within-host interactions to epidemiology & evolution
 

Matthew Sullivan (Dept. of Microbiology, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA)
Planetary-scale virology: from ecology and diversity to evolution and selection throughout the global oceans
 

Paul Turner (Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, USA)
Evolutionary genetics of bacteria in response to individual versus combined phage-selection pressures
 

Lena Wilfert (Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany)
How the acquisition of vector borne transmission changes bee virome interactions
 

Anouk Willemsen (Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria)
Swimming with giants: underpinnings of protist-giant virus interactions
 

Mark Zwart (Dept. of Microbial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands)
Embrace the noise: What can we learn from variation in the frequency of virus genome segments?
 

Deadline for application: June 13, 2024

Registration fee (including board and lodging)

510 € for PhD students

740 € for other participants

Application for registration

The total number of participants is limited to 115 and all participants are expected to attend for the whole duration of the conference. Selection is made on the basis of the affinity of potential participants with the topics of the conference. Scientists and PhD Students interested in the meeting should deposit online before the deadline.

• their curriculum vitae
• the proof of their student status
• the list of their main publications for the 3 last years
• the abstract of their presentation:

The abstract must respect the following template:

• First line: title
• Second line: list of authors
• Third line: author's addresses
• Fourth line: e-mail of the presenting author

Abstract should not exceed 600 words. No figures.

After the deadline, the organizers will select the participants. Except in some particular cases approved by the Chairperson, it is recommended that all selected participants present their work during the conference, either in poster form or by a brief in- session talk. The organizers choose the form in which the presentations are made. No payment will be sent with application. Information on how and when to pay will be mailed in due time to those selected.