Open AccessViral evolution under the pressure of an adaptive immune system: Optimal mutation rates for viral escape
Author(s) -
Kamp Christel,
Wilke Claus O.,
Adami Christoph,
Bornholdt Stefan
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
complexity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.447
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1099-0526
pISSN - 1076-2787
DOI - 10.1002/cplx.10067
Subject(s) - viral quasispecies , mutation rate , mutation , viral evolution , virology , immune system , biology , virus , epitope , acquired immune system , genetics , antibody , gene , rna , hepatitis c virus
Based on a recent model of evolving viruses competing with an adapting immune system (Kamp and Bornholdt, Co‐evolution of quasispecies: B‐cell mutation rates maximize viral error catastrophes. Phys Rev Lett 88, 2002), we study the conditions under which a viral quasispecies can maximize its growth rate. We find that a virus is most viable if it generates on average precisely one mutation within the time it takes for the immune system to adapt to a new viral epitope. Experimental viral mutation rates, in particular for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), seem to suggest that many viruses have achieved their optimal mutation rate. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.