LEEDS, England, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- British researchers have advanced science's understanding of how viruses can infect difference species, possibly leading to better control of viral diseases.
University of Leeds scientists focused on the canine distemper virus, or CDV. While pathogens such as CDV that "jump" across species are quite common, little has been known about how they take hold and become established in new host species.
"The virus needs to bind to a specific receptor on cells in the host in order to infect it," explained lead researcher Alex McCarthy. "But the sequences of receptors vary between species, so a virus from one species shouldn't be able recognize and infect the cells of other species."
By analyzing the genetic sequence of the virus in both dog and wild carnivore species, the researchers proved two key parts of a CDV protein specifically involved in receptor recognition evolved during the host jumps, while the rest of the protein showed very few changes among viruses from different species.
McCarthy's team believes it's highly likely pathogen evolution is a much more general mechanism in cross-species transmission of viruses than has been thought.
The findings appear online in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
