title: Little evidence for synergism among deleterious mutations in a nonsegmented RNA virus.
abstract: Several models have been proposed to account for the segmentation of RNA viruses. One of the best known models suggests that segmentation, and mixing of segments during coinfections, is a way to eliminate deleterious mutations from the genome. However, for validity, this model requires that deleterious mutations interact in a synergistic way. That is, two mutations together should have a more deleterious effect than the result of adding their individual effects. Here I present evidence that deleterious mutations in foot-and-mouth disease virus produce a decline in fitness but that the relationship between the number of mutations fixed and the magnitude of fitness decline is compatible mainly with a nonsynergistic model. However, the statistical uncertainties associated with the data still give some room for the existence of very weak synergistic epistasis.
authors.affiliation: Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biología Evolutiva and Department de Genètica, Universitat de València, Apartado 22085, 46071 València, Spain.
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Elena
mesh_terms: D005537:Aphthovirus / Q000235:genetics*; D004843:Epistasis, Genetic; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016679:Genome, Viral; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation