OOS 58 - Virus Ecology: Emerging Ideas and Practical Applications

Organizer(s)

• AS

  Anna Sjodin

  Environmental Protection Agency, United States

Viruses are the most abundant biological entity on the planet, yet popular understanding has generally focused on pathogens of agricultural or human health concern. As the natural history of viruses is further explored and documented, however, the sheer variety of host-virus systems suggests the need for a collective reimagination of thought. Decades of work have provided a foundation for this shift, discovering that ecological concepts, such as predation guilds, community-level interactions, and climate-induced range shifts, are at work in viral systems. This suggests that application of ecological theory to viruses has the potential to significantly contribute to our understanding of these small, genetic units. Simultaneously, utilization of highly abundant, short-lived entities with small, relatively easily assembled genomes that are subject to evolutionary and ecological mechanisms can strengthen ecological theory. This session will showcase a variety of virus ecology and demonstrate how addressing viral dynamics from an ecological perspective can advance both virological and ecological understanding.

Presentations:

• 10:00 AM – 10:15 AM PDT

  Forecasting viral ecology: future reality or sci-fi fantasy?
  

  Presenting Author: Anna R. Sjodin – Environmental Protection Agency
• 10:15 AM – 10:30 AM PDT

  CANCELLED - Viral predation guilds: a new framework for thinking about viral ecology
  

  Presenting Author: Ann Gregory – The Ohio State University
• 10:30 AM – 10:45 AM PDT

  Comparative virology: Challenges in understanding virus-host dynamics and eco-evolutionary feedback mechanisms in virology and virus ecology
  

  Presenting Author: Ruben Michael Ceballos – University of Arkansas

  Co-author: Michelle A. Evans-White, PhD – University of Arkansas

  Co-author: Qinyang Zhang, PhD – University of Arkansas

  Co-author: Ruth Plymale, PhD – Ouachita Baptist University

  Co-author: Han Tan, PhD – University of Maine

  Co-author: Juris Grasis, PhD – University of California, Merced

  Co-author: Ivan Dungan, PhD – Francis Marion University
• 10:45 AM – 11:00 AM PDT

  Beyond the pathogen mindset: What can virus ecology tell us about zoonotic disease risk?
  

  Presenting Author: Cadhla Firth – EcoHealth Alliance

  Co-author: Alix Armero – EcoHealth Alliance

  Co-author: Peter Daszak – EcoHealth Alliance
• 11:00 AM – 11:15 AM PDT

  CANCELLED - Mitigating inherent biases introduced during viral metagenome analyses of environmental samples
  

  Presenting Author: Eric Villegas – Environmental Protection Agency

  Co-author: Nichole E. Brinkman, PhD – USEPA

  Co-author: Jay L. Garland, PhD – USEPA

  Co-author: Scott P. Keely, PhD – USEPA