Roossinck Lab

The Roossinck lab has long been fascinated by the evolution and ecology of RNA viruses. Using Cucumber mosaic virus as a model system for experimental evolution, we have studied various aspects of virus evolution including population structures, bottlenecks during systemic infection and transmission, and recombination frequencies. We have also studied the biodiversity of viruses in wild plants, and this research led to the realization that although almost all of the well-characterized plant viruses have an acute lifestyle, persistent viruses are more common and found in many plants, including many crop plants.