We want to make EVE research as accessible as possible and hope HI-FEVER let's people explore virus evolution! 🦴🧬🕑

We tested it on Windows, Mac and Linux and implemented it in PIXI with Apptainer and Conda to make installation and running as easy as possible. 🖥️💻

HI-FEVER scans host genomes for endogenous viral elements (EVEs), reconstructs the ancestral viral protein and predicts it's classification. 🧬🔍✔️

The best part: it runs on everything from small laptops to HPC computers needing as little as 5GB storage space (including databases!).

Website link: AussiERV share.google/n4Bt6fJJIEO4...

Whilst in humans deltaviruses like hepatitis D virus need a helper virus to infect cells, we didn't find any evidence of a helper in termites.

They may transmit directly through feeding or vertically from the queen, but further research on this will help us understand how satellite viruses work 🤔

This is the first evidence of endogenous deltaviruses within animal genomes. 🧬

We also find a deltavirus that has become part of a host gene, fusing with a nucleoplasmin as part of a co-option event! 🧬🫂

#deltavirus #virus

Scientists of Bluesky, introduce yourselves by replying to this post and I’ll share it and help you get some followers!

I’m David, I’m based in DC and study shark ecology and conservation policy. I’m the author of “Why Sharks Matter.”

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Hi, I'm Emma. I'm a postdoc based in the UK and interested in the evolution and origin of viruses. I use bioinformatics to mine genomes for molecular fossils (endogenous viruses) and see what we can learn!

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