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Cited by 276Evolution and Genetic DynamicsMathematical and Theoretical Epidemiology and Ecology ModelsPhilosophy and History of Science

Quasispecies theory in the context of population genetics

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Wilke, Claus O·2005·BMC Evolutionary Biology
DOI 10.1186/1471-2148-5-44PMC PMC1208876
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Abstract

Background: A number of recent papers have cast doubt on the applicability of the quasispecies concept to virus evolution, and have argued that population genetics is a more appropriate framework to describe virus evolution than quasispecies theory. Results: I review the pertinent literature, and demonstrate for a number of cases that the quasispecies concept is equivalent to the concept of mutation-selection balance developed in population genetics, and that there is no disagreement between the population genetics of haploid, asexually-replicating organisms and quasispecies theory. Conclusion: Since quasispecies theory and mutation-selection balance are two sides of the same medal, the discussion about which is more appropriate to describe virus evolution is moot. In future work on virus evolution, we would do good to focus on the important questions, such as whether we can develop accurate, quantitative models of virus evolution, and to leave aside discussions about the relative merits of perfectly equivalent concepts.

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  • In many published quasi-species simulations, a quasi-species has one master sequence with superior fitness and all other sequences have inferior fitness.

    “But in many published simulations, a quasi-species ‘has one master sequence with superior fitness … and all other sequences have inferior fitness’ [111, p. 2].”

    From Systems protobiology: origin of life in lipid catalytic networks (2018) · cites this paper as [111]

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Authors
Wilke, C. O.
Affiliations
California Institute of Technology (US)
Corresponding author
Wilke, Claus O
ORCID
Wilke, Claus O
Venue
BMC Evolutionary Biology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2005-08-17
Volume
5
Issue
1
Pages
44-44
ISSN
1471-2148 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/1471-2148-5-44
PMC
PMC1208876
OpenAlex
W2144625133
Cited by
276
References
84
Citations by year
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FWCI
8.84
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • BMC Evolutionary Biology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01AI065960, AI 065960)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Mathematical and Theoretical Epidemiology and Ecology Models
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy and History of Science
Keywords
quasispecies theory, mutation-selection balance, viral evolution, population genetics, viral quasispecies, asexual replication, haploid organisms
MeSH terms
Data Interpretation, Statistical, Biological Evolution, Gene Frequency, Genes, Viral, Genetics, Population, Models, Biological, Models, Theoretical, Mutation, Phenotype, Ploidies, Research Design, RNA Viruses, Selection, Genetic, Species Specificity, Genetic Variation, Reproducibility of Results, Models, Statistical, Mutagenesis, Genome, Viral, Evolution, Molecular, Genetic Drift

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