Anouk Willemsen

2b or not 2b: Experimental evolution of functional exogenous sequences in a plant RNA virus

This study experimentally evolves plant RNA viruses with horizontally transferred sequences, finding that some are purged while others are stably maintained and provide a replicative advantage.

Predicting the stability of homologous gene duplications in a plant RNA virus

This study investigates the stability of gene duplications in plant RNA viruses, finding that duplications reduce fitness and are often deleted, with deletion dynamics influenced by gene size, position, and passage duration.

High virulence does not necessarily impede viral adaptation to a new host: A case study using a plant RNA virus

This study shows that high virulence does not hinder viral adaptation to a new host, as a plant RNA virus adapted in both high and low virulence hosts with different evolutionary outcomes.