Abstract
Different mechanisms could facilitate host alternation, rapid adaptation following horizontal transmission, cooperation among the genotypes infecting a host (i.e. quasispecies behaviour) and/or variation in viral gene expression through regulation of gene copy number variation. We will analyse the genetics of virus populations in experimental infections in arthropods and vertebrates using deep sequencing and bioinformatics. The main biological model will be Bluetongue virus (BTV), an arbovirus transmitted by biting midges and causing disease in ruminants worldwide. The hosting laboratory already possesses samples from experimental infections of sheep and midges that can facilitate rapid result generation. Depending on timing, the conservation of the results in other arbovirus models ( mosquito-borne viruses) will be attempted.