Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2002 Jan 1;76(1):463-465.
doi: 10.1128/JVI.76.1.463-465.2002.

Quasispecies Theory in Virology

Esteban Domingo  1
Affiliations

Quasispecies Theory in Virology

Esteban Domingo. J Virol. .

Abstract

Holmes and Moya claim that quasispecies is an unnecessary and misleading description of RNA virus evolution, that virologists refer to quasispecies inappropriately, and that there is little evidence of quasispecies in RNA virus evolution. They wish to look for other ideas in evolutionary biology and to set down an agenda for future research. I argue here that real virus quasispecies often differ from the theoretical quasispecies as initially formulated and that this difference does not invalidate quasispecies as a suitable theoretical framework to understand viruses at the population level.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Adami, C. 1998. Introduction to artificial life. Springer-Verlag, New York, N.Y.
    1. Arias, A., E. Lazaro, C. Escarmis, and E. Domingo. 2001. Molecular intermediates of fitness gain of an RNA virus: characterization of a mutant spectrum by biological and molecular cloning. J. Gen. Virol. 82:1049–1060. - PubMed
    1. Baranowski, E., C. M. Ruíz-Jarabo, P. Lim, and E. Domingo. 2001. Foot-and-mouth disease virus lacking the VP1 G-H loop: the mutant spectrum uncovers interactions among antigenic sites for fitness gain. Virology 288:192–202. - PubMed
    1. Biebricher, C. K. 1999. Mutation, competition and selection as measured with small RNA molecules, p. 65–85. In E. Domingo, R. G. Webster, and J. J. Holland (ed.), Origin and evolution of viruses. Academic Press, San Diego, Calif.
    1. Chao, L. 1990. Fitness of RNA virus decreased by Muller’s ratchet. Nature 348:454–455. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources