Research Focus: Evolution Experiments using Viruses

My lab takes an experimental approach to the study of evolution because it allows us to address questions from many areas of evolutionary biology. For example, evolution experiments using microorganisms have been able to address widely ranging topics from kin selection and the evolution of virulence to the evolution of mutation rates, and the evolution of host specialization.

Microorganisms, and viruses in particular, are remarkably suitable systems for addressing evolutionary hypotheses because they allow the observation of evolutionary events within weeks or even days. In the Burch lab, we combine experimental evolution using bacterial viruses with techniques from molecular, computational, and theoretical biology to investigate the constraints on adaptive evolution that are inherent in genetic systems. We are pursuing a number of research questions, including:

. How do high mutation and recombination rates affect the speed and extent to which RNA viruses adapt to their environment?
. Are there genetic reasons why parasites tend to specialize on one or a few potential hosts? Or is host specialization entirely a function of host-parasite ecology?
. What is the nature of the interaction between viruses that co-infect the same host cell? Do viruses manipulate the probability of co-infection to balance the costs and benefits of sharing a host cell with another virus?

Incoming students can choose between various experiments designed to answer these and other evolutionary questions. For a more thorough description of ongoing research, check out the Burch lab webpage:
http://www.bio.unc.edu/faculty/burch/burchlab/.