Quantifying Resilience in Single-Host/Single-Virus Infections

Due to theoretical and practical applications in biomedical, environmental, and industrial microbiology, robust metrics for quantifying the virulence of pathogens is vital. For many virus–host systems, multiple virus strains propagate through host populations. Each strain may exhibit a different vir...

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Main Authors: Socheata Hour, Andrew Pierce, Sobroney Ying Heng, Ruth Plymale, Ruben Michael Ceballos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-02-01
Series:Applied Microbiology
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8007/5/1/18
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author Socheata Hour
Andrew Pierce
Sobroney Ying Heng
Ruth Plymale
Ruben Michael Ceballos
author_facet Socheata Hour
Andrew Pierce
Sobroney Ying Heng
Ruth Plymale
Ruben Michael Ceballos
author_sort Socheata Hour
collection DOAJ
description Due to theoretical and practical applications in biomedical, environmental, and industrial microbiology, robust metrics for quantifying the virulence of pathogens is vital. For many virus–host systems, multiple virus strains propagate through host populations. Each strain may exhibit a different virulence level. Likewise, different hosts may manifest different levels of host resilience to infection by a given virus. Recent publications have assessed metrics for quantifying virulence (<i>V<sub>R</sub></i>) from growth curve data. Regardless of the metric used, a feature that most methods have in common is focus on the exponential growth phase of virus–host interactions. Often ignored is mortality phase. Following a report introducing the Stacy–Ceballos Inhibition Index (<i>I<sub>SC</sub></i>), a robust metric to quantify relative virulence (<i>V<sub>R</sub></i>) between viruses, we have turned attention to quantifying relative resilience (<i>R<sub>R</sub></i>) between hosts in single-virus/single-host (SVSH) experimental infections. Although resilience during viral infection impacts the entire host growth curve, <i>R<sub>R</sub></i> has particular biological significance during the mortality phase. In this report, we argue that calculating <i>R<sub>R</sub></i> using a modified <i>I<sub>SC</sub></i> provides a robust metric for comparisons between SVSH infections. Wet lab data from fusellovirus infections in Sulfolobales, bacteriophage infections in Mycobacteriales, and simulated infected-host growth profiles form the basis for developing this metric, <i>R<sub>R</sub></i>, for quantifying resilience.
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spelling doaj-art-dc93d1ab714242a5bcc598ecdc8307012025-08-20T03:43:47ZengMDPI AGApplied Microbiology2673-80072025-02-01511810.3390/applmicrobiol5010018Quantifying Resilience in Single-Host/Single-Virus InfectionsSocheata Hour0Andrew Pierce1Sobroney Ying Heng2Ruth Plymale3Ruben Michael Ceballos4Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, School of Natural Sciences, University of California Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USABiology Department, Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, AR 71998, USADepartment of Molecular and Cell Biology, School of Natural Sciences, University of California Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USABiology Department, Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, AR 71998, USADepartment of Molecular and Cell Biology, School of Natural Sciences, University of California Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USADue to theoretical and practical applications in biomedical, environmental, and industrial microbiology, robust metrics for quantifying the virulence of pathogens is vital. For many virus–host systems, multiple virus strains propagate through host populations. Each strain may exhibit a different virulence level. Likewise, different hosts may manifest different levels of host resilience to infection by a given virus. Recent publications have assessed metrics for quantifying virulence (<i>V<sub>R</sub></i>) from growth curve data. Regardless of the metric used, a feature that most methods have in common is focus on the exponential growth phase of virus–host interactions. Often ignored is mortality phase. Following a report introducing the Stacy–Ceballos Inhibition Index (<i>I<sub>SC</sub></i>), a robust metric to quantify relative virulence (<i>V<sub>R</sub></i>) between viruses, we have turned attention to quantifying relative resilience (<i>R<sub>R</sub></i>) between hosts in single-virus/single-host (SVSH) experimental infections. Although resilience during viral infection impacts the entire host growth curve, <i>R<sub>R</sub></i> has particular biological significance during the mortality phase. In this report, we argue that calculating <i>R<sub>R</sub></i> using a modified <i>I<sub>SC</sub></i> provides a robust metric for comparisons between SVSH infections. Wet lab data from fusellovirus infections in Sulfolobales, bacteriophage infections in Mycobacteriales, and simulated infected-host growth profiles form the basis for developing this metric, <i>R<sub>R</sub></i>, for quantifying resilience.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8007/5/1/18resiliencevirulenceSulfolobalesMycobacterialesfusellovirusarchaea
spellingShingle Socheata Hour
Andrew Pierce
Sobroney Ying Heng
Ruth Plymale
Ruben Michael Ceballos
Quantifying Resilience in Single-Host/Single-Virus Infections
Applied Microbiology
resilience
virulence
Sulfolobales
Mycobacteriales
fusellovirus
archaea
title Quantifying Resilience in Single-Host/Single-Virus Infections
title_full Quantifying Resilience in Single-Host/Single-Virus Infections
title_fullStr Quantifying Resilience in Single-Host/Single-Virus Infections
title_full_unstemmed Quantifying Resilience in Single-Host/Single-Virus Infections
title_short Quantifying Resilience in Single-Host/Single-Virus Infections
title_sort quantifying resilience in single host single virus infections
topic resilience
virulence
Sulfolobales
Mycobacteriales
fusellovirus
archaea
url https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8007/5/1/18
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AT ruthplymale quantifyingresilienceinsinglehostsinglevirusinfections
AT rubenmichaelceballos quantifyingresilienceinsinglehostsinglevirusinfections