The Good, the Bad, and the Defective: Exploring the Role of Defective Interfering Particles in Influenza Infection

Abstract

Defective Interfering Particles (DIPs) are viruses whose genome has been damaged to a point where they are unable to replicate on their own, however are able to replicate with the help of a non-damaged virus (WT virus).[23] There is mounting evidence that DIPs play a crucial and ubiquitous role during the course of infection for some RNA viruses, which has lead to renewed interest in their interactions with standard viral particles - especially with respect to influenza.[23][4] We examine the ecology between the Influenza A DIPs and standard Influenza A viruses in vitro, through theoretical modeling of influenza replication. We find a simple two parameter model for the competition between standard influenza viruses and influenza DIPs. When this model is fitted to experimental data, it provides evidence that influenza DIPs with a moderate replication advantage are selected for during in vitro passaging experiments.