Horizontal transmission of a murine retrovirus is driven by males within semi-natural enclosures

1. Transmission is a key component of a pathogen’s life history, but it is often difficult to obtain reliable ecological estimates of the dominant mode(s) of transmission and how host traits, such as sex, influence transmission dynamics.
2. Here, we have developed a robust system pairing the use of semi-natural populations of house mice (Mus musculus) with modern molecular viral titering approaches to evaluate the transmission dynamics of Friend Virus Complex (FVC). 
3. Semi-natural populations were founded with female and male mice that were either ‘index’ (initially infected via intraperitoneal injection) or ‘contact’ (uninfected at the start of experiment). Three experimental population designs were implemented: female index only, male index only, and both female and male index.
4. Utilizing these enclosures, we found male-male transmission to be the predominant mode of transmission, with low rates of horizontal female transmission and no evidence of vertical transmission. Additio...

1. 传播是病原体生活史的核心组成部分，但要获取主导传播模式以及宿主性状（如性别）如何影响传播动态的可靠生态学估算值，通常存在较大难度。
2. 本研究搭建了一套稳健的实验体系，将小家鼠（Mus musculus）的半自然种群与现代分子病毒滴度测定方法相结合，用以评估Friend病毒复合体（Friend Virus Complex，FVC）的传播动态。
3. 半自然种群由雌性和雄性小家鼠组建，这些个体分为两类：“指数感染个体”（初始通过腹腔注射方式感染病毒）与“接触个体”（实验开始时未感染病毒）。研究共设置三种实验种群设计：仅雌性指数感染个体、仅雄性指数感染个体，以及雌雄均为指数感染个体。
4. 依托上述半自然饲养体系，本研究发现雄性间传播为主要传播模式，雌性间水平传播率较低，且未发现垂直传播的相关证据。此外……