CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 331Evolution and Genetic DynamicsMathematical and Theoretical Epidemiology and Ecology ModelsRNA and protein synthesis mechanisms

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 19 of the 21 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Rapid fitness losses in mammalian RNA virus clones due to Muller’s ratchet

Open access
Duarte, E, Clarke, D, Moya, A, Domingo, E, Holland, J·1992·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.89.13.6015PMC PMC402129
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Muller's ratchet is an important concept in population genetics. It predicts that when mutation rates are high and a significant proportion of mutations are deleterious, a kind of irreversible ratchet mechanism will gradually decrease the mean fitness of small populations of asexual organisms. In contrast, sexual recombination may stop or reverse this mutational ratchet by recombinational repair of genetic damage. Experimental support for Muller's ratchet has previously been obtained in protozoa and in a tripartite RNA bacteriophage. We now show clear evidence that Muller's ratchet can operate on a nonsegmented nonrecombining pathogenic RNA virus of animals and humans. We did genetic bottleneck passages (plaque-to-plaque transfers) of vesicular somatitis virus (VSV) and then quantitated relative fitness of the bottleneck clones by allowing direct replication competition in mixed infections in cell culture. We document variable fitness drops (some severe) following only 20 plaque-to-plaque transfers of VSV. In some clones no fitness changes (or only insignificant changes) were observed. Surprisingly, the most regular and severe fitness losses occurred during virus passages on a new host cell type. These results again demonstrate the extreme genetic and biological variability of RNA virus populations. Muller's ratchet could have significant implications for variability of disease severity during virus outbreaks, since genetic bottlenecks must often occur during respiratory droplet transmissions and during spread of low-yield RNA viruses from one body site to another (as with human immunodeficiency virus). Likewise, the lower-probability generation of increased-fitness clones during repeated genetic bottleneck transfers of RNA viruses in nature might also affect disease pathogenesis in infected individuals and in host populations. Whenever genetic bottlenecks of RNA viruses occur, enhanced biological differences among viral subpopulations may result.

Overview

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.89.13.6015

Cites

19 of 19 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Verification

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Citations

Cites

Show all 21 references

Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Domingo, E., Holland, J. J. & Ahlquist, P. (CRC, Boca Raton, FL), pp. 3-36.
  2. Domingo, E., Holland, J. J. & Ahlquist, P. (CRC, Boca Raton, FL), Vol. 3, pp. 211-245.
  3. Zimmern, D. (1988) in RNA Genetics, eds. Domingo, E., Holland, J. J. & Ahlquist, P. (CRC, Boca Raton, FL), Vol. 2, pp. 211-240.
  4. Holland, J. J. & Cords, C. E. (1964) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 51, 1082-1085.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

See all

Metadata

Authors
Duarte, E., Clarke, D., Moya, A., Domingo, E., & Holland, J.
Affiliations
  • University of California San Diego (US)
  • Department of Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0116.
ORCID
Domingo, E
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
1992-07
Volume
89
Issue
13
Pages
6015-6019
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.89.13.6015
PMC
PMC402129
OpenAlex
W2055633360
Cited by
331
References
21
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 14
FWCI
3.27
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (AI-14627)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Applied Mathematics › Mathematical and Theoretical Epidemiology and Ecology Models
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
Keywords
Muller's ratchet, RNA viruses, vesicular stomatitis virus, population bottleneck, fitness loss, relative fitness, disease severity variability, virus transmission
MeSH terms
Animals, Cells, Cultured, Genetics, Population, Cricetinae, HeLa Cells, Humans, Mutation, RNA Viruses, Vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus, Virus Replication, In Vitro Techniques

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review