Project name: Library-based analysis reveals segment and length dependent characteristics of defective influenza genomes

Description: Parasitic elements of the viral population which are unable to replicate on their own yet rise to high frequencies, defective interfering particles are found in a variety of different viruses. Their presence is associated with a loss of population fitness, both through the depletion of key cellular resources and the stimulation of innate immunity. For influenza A virus, these particles contain large internal deletions in the genomic segments which encode components of the heterotrimeric polymerase. Using a library-based approach, we comprehensively profile the growth and replication of defective species, demonstrating they possess an advantage during genome replication, and that exclusion during packaging reshapes population composition in a manner consistent with their final, observed, distribution in natural populations. We find that innate immunity is not linked to the size of a deletion; however, replication of defective segments can enhance their immunostimulatory properties. Overall, our results address several key questions in defective influenza A virus biology, and the methods we have developed to answer those questions may be broadly applied to other defective viruses.Overall design: For each artificial library, three independent experiments, from library generation onwards, are presented. For natural sequencing, two biological replicates are presented, each with two technical replicates.

Data type: Other

Sample scope: Multiisolate

Relevance: Other

Last updated: 2021-09-04