title: Memory in retroviral quasispecies: experimental evidence and theoretical model for human immunodeficiency virus.
abstract: Viral quasispecies may possess a molecular memory of their past evolutionary history, imprinted on minority components of the mutant spectrum. Here we report experimental evidence and a theoretical model for memory in retroviral quasispecies in vivo. Apart from replicative memory associated with quasispecies dynamics, retroviruses may harbour a "cellular" or "anatomical" memory derived from their integrative cycle and the presence of viral reservoirs in body compartments. Three independent sets of data exemplify the two kinds of memory in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The data provide evidence of re-emergence of sequences that were hidden in cellular or anatomical compartments for extended periods of infection, and recovery of a quasispecies from pre-existing genomes. We develop a three-component model that incorporates the essential features of the quasispecies dynamics of retroviruses exposed to selective pressures. Significantly, a numerical study based on this model is in agreement with the experimental data, further supporting the existence of both replicative and reservoir memory in retroviral quasispecies.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), Carretera de Ajalvir, Km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, 28850 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Briones
authors.forename: Esteban
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Domingo
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Molina-París
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics; D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016333:HIV Protease / Q000235:genetics; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase / Q000235:genetics; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010802:Phylogeny; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D016662:Virus Integration / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase; D016333:HIV Protease