Viruses as Pest Control: the coevolution of the Myxoma virus and its long-eared hosts

    European colonists introduced rabbits to Australia at the end of the 1700s. European rabbits (Otyctolagus cuniculus) are native to southern Europe and northern Africa, but is considered an invasive pest species around the world. The rabbit population in Australia grew exponentially due to the lack of natural predators and warm climate that enabled year-round breeding. Australia was home to an estimated 10 billion rabbits by the 1900s. The Australian rabbit population caused widespread vegetation depletion, leading to soil erosion. The rabbits caused massive destruction of crops and pastures for livestock, resulting in a significant loss of agricultural productivity and harming the economy. Rabbits competed for resources with native herbivores, and themselves became food for the increasing population of native predators. These factors heavily contributed to the decline of native Australian herbivore populations. Australian farmers attempted to use various chemical pesticides, but those also proved detrimental to the ecosystem. In the 1950s, scientists proposed using the recently-discovered Myxoma virus to curb the rabbit population. This experiment in biological warfare ultimately failed to eliminate the rabbit infestation, but became an important experiment on the coevolution of a pathogen and its host.
By Ilana Richter

Myxoma virus

The Myxoma virus is a poxvirus that lives commensally inside lagomorphs in South America and California. The virus is vectored by mosquitoes and fleas, but it can also be spread through direct contact with an infected animal.
Myxoma virions are enveloped and rectangular. Like many poxviruses, they contain a bioconcave core. Myxoma has a non-segemented genome consisting of a single molecule of linear double-stranded DNA. The Myxoma virus infects fibroblasts, lymphocytes, and mucosal cells.

Myxoma virus, TEM. David Gregory & Debbie Marshall. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Pathology

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Experimental use in Australia

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Results of the experiment

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References

"Environmental Damage caused by Rabbits"
(PDF). Archived from the original
(PDF) on 18 December 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2014.

https://web.archive.org/web/20111125204128/http://www.csiro.au/science/Myxomatosis-History

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/04/08/2538860.htm

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/03/30/in-1950-a-disease-called-myxomatosis-was-introduced-to-rabbits-for-population-control-in-australia-and-it-wiped-out-500-million-rabbits-in-two-years/

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/08/rabbit-virus-arms-race/536796/

https://www.the-scientist.com/multimedia/infographic-evolving-virulence-30813

Authored for BIOL 238 Microbiology, taught by Joan Slonczewski, 2018, Kenyon College.