Genetic variation in fitness within a clonal population of a plant RNA virus.

ABSTRACT: A long-standing observation in evolutionary virology is that RNA virus populations are highly polymorphic, composed by a mixture of genotypes whose abundances in the population depend on complex interaction between fitness differences, mutational coupling and genetic drift. It was shown long ago, though in cell cultures, that most of these genotypes had lower fitness than the population they belong, an observation that explained why single-virion passages turned on Muller's ratchet while very large population passages resulted in fitness increases in novel environments. Here we report the results of an experiment specifically designed to evaluate in vivo the fitness differences among the subclonal components of a clonal population of the plant RNA virus tobacco etch potyvirus (TEV).

SUBMITTER: Cervera H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4989883 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature