IMIB - Institute for Molecular Infection Biology

Understanding viral evolution by sequencing single viral particles genomes

Influenza viruses are responsible for recurrent epidemics and are a major burden on public health worldwide, causing an estimated 500,000 deaths each year. One of the most striking features of influenza is its segmented genome consisting of 8 negative stranded RNA segments (vRNAs). Although genome segmentation complicates virus assembly, it allows segment exchange between viruses by genetic reassortment. Reassortment is known to be non-random, but the molecular mechanism underlying this phenomenon is poorly understood. My project uses spatial transcriptomics to define pathways used by influenza to assemble its segmented genome into virions.