title: The cost of replication fidelity in an RNA virus.
abstract: It is often argued that high mutation rates are advantageous for RNA viruses, because they confer elevated rates of adaptation. However, there is no direct evidence showing a positive correlation between mutation and adaptation rates among RNA viruses. Moreover, theoretical work does not argue in favor of this prediction. We used a series of vesicular stomatitis virus clones harboring single amino acid substitutions in the RNA polymerase to demonstrate that changes inducing enhanced fidelity paid a fitness cost, but that there was no positive correlation between mutation an adaptation rates. We demonstrate that the observed mutation rate in vesicular stomatitis virus can be explained by a trade-off between replication rate and replication fidelity.
authors: Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, P.O. Box 22085, 46071 València, Spain.
authors: Victoria
authors: V
authors: Furió
authors: Andrés
authors: A
authors: Moya
authors: Rafael
authors: R
authors: Sanjuán
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological / Q000235:genetics*; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution / Q000235:genetics*; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000235:genetics*; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D014721:Vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases