The genus Flavivirus, which contains approximately 70 single-stranded, positive-sense RNA viruses, represents a unique model for studying the evolution of vector-borne disease, as it includes viruses that are mosquito-borne, tick-borne or have no known vector. Both theoretical work and field studies suggest the existence of a large number of undiscovered flaviviruses. Recently, the first isolat...

The NucliSens Extractor is an automated nucleic acid isolation system based on guanidinium thiocyanate (GuSCN)-silica extraction technology. The system has been validated for the isolation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNAs from human samples in combination with nucleic acid sequence-based amplification- and reverse transcription-PCR-based methods. We evaluat...

HIV-1 can be isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells and is easily propagated on primary cells in vitro. Here we describe the method for bulk isolation of the HIV-1 quasispecies and a limiting dilution virus isolation protocol by which single coexisting clones can be obtained. In addition, methods for propagation and titration of HIV-1 are provided.

Ecological speciation hypotheses claim that assortative mating evolves as a consequence of divergent natural selection for ecologically important traits. Reproductive isolation is expected to be particularly likely to evolve by this mechanism in species such as phytophagous insects that mate in the habitats in which they eat. We tested this expectation by monitoring the evolution of reproductiv...