Premium
Basic concepts in RNA virus evolution
Author(s) -
Domingo Esteban,
Escarmís Cristina,
Sevilla Noemi,
Moya Andres,
Elena Santiago F.,
Quer Josep,
Novella Isabel S.,
Holland John J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.10.8.8666162
Subject(s) - biology , viral quasispecies , proofreading , rna , genetics , viral evolution , rna virus , population , experimental evolution , genome , virus , replicon , viral replication , evolutionary biology , computational biology , virology , dna , polymerase , gene , demography , sociology
A hallmark of RNA genomes is the error‐prone nature of their Replication and retro‐ transcription. The major biochemical basis of the limited replication fidelity is the absence of proof‐ reading/repair and postreplicative error correction mechanisms that normally operate during replication of cellular DNA. In spite of this unique feature of RNA replicons, the dynamics of viral populations seems to follow the same basic principles that classical population genetics has established for higher organisms. Here we review recent evidence of the profound effects that genetic bottlenecks have in enhancing the deleterious effects of Muller's ratchet during RNA virus evolution. The validity of the Red Queen hypothesis and of the competitive exclusion principle for RNA viruses are viewed as the expected result of the highly variable and adaptable nature of viral quasispecies. Viral fitness, or ability to replicate infectious progeny, can vary a million‐fold within short time intervals. Paradoxically, functional and structural studies suggest extreme limitations to virus variation. Adaptability of RNA viruses appears to be based on the occupation of very narrow portions of sequence space at any given time.—Domingo, E., Escarmís, E., Sevilla, N., Moya, A., Elena, S. F., Quer, J., Novella, I. S., and Holland, J. J. Basic concepts in RNA virus evolution. FASEB J . 10, 859‐864 (1996)